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Wednesday, August 12, 1998
Candidate for Family Court judge accused of assaulting woman
By Carri Geer
Review-Journal
A candidate for Family Court judge faces a Sept. 3 arraignment on a battery charge that stems from allegations made by his former live-in girlfriend.
James Guesman, a 54-year-old Las Vegas lawyer, was cited after an argument Collette Putnam, his girlfriend at the time, she says they had May 5.
Putnam, a private investigator in Las Vegas, said she moved out of Guesman's home after the incident and obtained a temporary protective order, which was dissolved May 29.
Guesman did not respond to messages left at his home and office requesting comment on the battery charge. He is scheduled to appear before Justice of the Peace William Jansen for his arraignment.
The 40-year-old woman said she plans to testify against Guesman if his misdemeanor case goes to trial. She said many of her clients are battered women.
"If I'm not willing to step up to the plate and follow through, how can I tell my clients that they have to do it?" Putnam said.
She said Guesman left the residence after the incident. She called 911, she said, but a dispatcher told her officers could not respond immediately.
Putnam said she then left the home and, the following day, filed a police report.
According to the statement Putnam gave police, she and Guesman had been arguing for two days about an incident that occurred at her parents' home.
At one point on the evening of May 5, according to the statement, she left the residence the couple shared at 3200 W. Pebble Road but discovered her car blocked in by Guesman's vehicles, so she went back inside.
"Jim then grabbed me by the neck with both hands placed under my jaw," the document states. "I kept telling him to let go of me. He refused. Jim stated that he was 'out of control.' "
According to the statement, Guesman threatened to knock her out, and she continued to ask him to let go of her. She also told him she would move out, according to the document.
"He then slammed my head against the wall, leaving a lump behind my ear to the top of my head," the document states. "After he slammed my head against the wall, my knees buckled, and I slid to the floor, where I stayed semiconscious for a few minutes."
Putnam said she began dating Guesman in November 1996. She said she moved into his home around March 1997 and began sharing office space with him shortly after that.
The woman said she moved out of both Guesman's office and home around September and stopped seeing him until February. She said she stayed at his home off and on after that until moving back in with him in late March or early April.
"He yelled a lot, but he never hit me," Putnam said. "I never dreamt he'd hit me."
Guesman is vying for the Family Court judgeship held by William Voy. Gov. Bob Miller appointed Voy to the position in May to fill the vacancy left after Family Court Judge Terrance Marren resigned to become Mesquite's city attorney.
Voy also faces challenges from attorneys Charles Hoskin, Michael Root and Randy Pike.
According to a candidate information form Guesman supplied the Review-Journal in early June, he has 21 years of legal experience and serves as an alternate domestic violence commissioner for Family Court.
He also described himself as a former Las Vegas police officer and a "proud grandfather of six."
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