Saturday, September 25, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Suspended hearing master had previous problems

A videotape shows Hearing Master Sylvia Beller ordering a teen appearing before her to remove his shirt and belt, causing his baggy pants to fall to the floor. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

A Clark County hearing master who was suspended last month for making a teen disrobe in court was previously suspended for two weeks following an incident in which she berated an attorney for not wearing a suit and tie in court, officials confirmed this week.

Court Administrator Chuck Short and Family Court Chief Judge Steven Jones confirmed the disciplinary action this week against Hearing Master Sylvia Beller following a records request filed by the Review-Journal.

Short and Jones wouldn't discuss details of the suspension, however, saying it was a personnel matter.

"Ms. Beller has been properly and severely disciplined for É actions that did not reflect on the standards of this court," Jones said in a letter to the newspaper. "Master Beller has, nevertheless, served the court admirably for over 13 years and deserved the opportunity to correct her past indiscretions."

Beller last month made a 16-year-old boy take off his clothes when he appeared in court to be sentenced on a graffiti charge. Beller didn't like the shirt the teen was wearing, so she ordered him to take it off. She then ordered a bailiff to remove the teen's belt, which caused his pants to fall to the ground.

The incident was captured on videotape, and it prompted a one-month suspension for Beller without pay. She was also re-assigned to hear cases that do not involve juveniles.

The Review-Journal subsequently learned of a prior suspension involving Beller. An attorney involved in the second incident said this week that he showed up in Beller's courtroom last November to represent a teenaged client cited for a traffic violation.

The attorney, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said his vehicle recently had been hit by a drunken driver, causing him to suffer serious neck and back injuries, and those injuries prompted a series of surgeries.

On the day he appeared in Beller's court, he wore a dress pants and shirt but no tie because surgery made it uncomfortable to wear a tie. He explained that to Beller, but she still refused to hear his client's case until he returned to the court properly dressed.

"It made it difficult and painful to wear a suit and tie," the attorney said. "I explained to her that I had been in a serious accident, that I had serious medical injuries."

The attorney said Beller's reaction was "callous indifference."

The attorney said he was embarrassed and told his client to go home. The attorney then went to Jones, who said he would order Beller to hear the case.

But when the attorney and his client returned to Beller's courtroom, he learned Beller had recused herself from the case. The case was subsequently heard and quickly resolved in front of another hearing master.

Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern Nevada, said he could not address the specifics of the suspension without additional details.

Peck did say, however, that the fact that Beller was suspended a second time "adds weight to questions about whether or not she has the proper temperament to serve in that position."

Beller was not available for comment.