CARSON CITY -- A hearing master who forced a 16-year-old boy to remove his shirt and belt, causing his pants to drop to his ankles in court, faces possible punishment from the Commission on Judicial Discipline.
Mary Boetsch, prosecuting attorney for the commission, on Nov. 3 charged Sylvia Beller with breaking the Code of Judicial Conduct. The charge was not made public until Wednesday. A hearing date on the ethics charge has not been scheduled.
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Beller handles cases for the family court in Clark County, and the teenager was in her courtroom on Aug. 6, 2004, to be sentenced for a misdemeanor graffiti charge.
He was wearing a T-shirt with "G Unit" printed on it. Beller asked if his shirt was a reference to gangs, and he told her it was a reference to rap music, according to Boetsch's statement.
Beller ordered him to take off the shirt, then had her bailiff handcuff the boy and told the bailiff to take off the teen's belt since it would be removed when he was returned to the custody of juvenile authorities. When the bailiff told Beller the boy's baggy pants would fall down without the belt, she replied, "Oh well.
The boy's pants fell below his knees, and he stood in his boxer shorts in front of the eight people in the courtroom.
The Clark County Public Defender and others called for Beller to be fired as a result of the incident.
The Clark County District Court suspended her for a month without pay without pay. Beller is paid $131,366 a year.
