Investigators remove the remains of a window shattered Monday by a bullet that struck District Judge Chuck Weller at the Mills B. Lane Justice Center in Reno. Police were looking for a man suspected in a slaying across town who had appeared before the judge in a divorce case. Photo by The Associated Press.
Chuck Weller Washoe County Family Court judge in serious to critical condition
Darren Mack Reno pawn shop owner had criticized judge in his divorce case as corrupt
Darren Roy Mack, 45, is shown with his family on his page on eBay, where he sells diamonds and other gems and valuables.
RENO -- A family court judge was shot Monday as he stood by a third-floor courthouse window, and police were looking for a man suspected in a slaying across town who had appeared before the judge in a divorce case.
Judge Chuck Weller, 53, was reported in serious to critical condition at the Washoe Medical Center after being shot at least once in the chest at 11:06 a.m. He had been on the bench for only 18 months, but he is a well-known lawyer who hosted a call-in radio talk show about legal matters for 13 years and also wrote a Reno Gazette-Journal newspaper column.
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Police said Weller was shot through a glass window in his chambers overlooking the Truckee River by a sniper armed with a high-powered rifle. The gunman might have fired from a parking garage 1 1/2 blocks north of the Mills B. Lane Justice Center, authorities said. The hole in the courthouse window was visible from a walkway along the river.
Police Deputy Chief Jim Johns said Darren Roy Mack, 45, a longtime Reno businessman, has been identified as a "person of interest" sought for questioning in the shooting.
"He is known to have access to firearms," Johns said of the pawn shop owner.
Mack also is a suspect in a homicide that Reno police discovered at 3 p.m. Monday at an apartment at 9900 Wilbur May Parkway in south Reno.
The apartment building was home to Mack's estranged wife, Charla Mack, 39, according to a background check by the Internet search engine Intelius. A call to Charla Mack's apartment was not returned Monday.
Police said the name of the homicide victim was being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
The slaying might have occurred before the Weller shooting but was not discovered until afterward, Johns said.
Mack had recently been involved in divorce proceedings in Weller's court, Johns said. Washoe County District Court records show that Mack and his wife appeared before the judge three times in relation to the divorce last year and that Weller was scheduled to preside over the couple's divorce proceedings on Sept. 8.
"We don't have enough to say he (Mack) is a suspect in the (Weller) shooting at this time, but it is an obvious connection," Johns said.
Mack operates Palace Jewelry and Loan, a pawnshop, in downtown Reno. He is believed to be driving a silver Ford Explorer. His 2003 Hummer was found abandoned Monday evening a few miles away from the courthouse.
A call to a number listed for Mack on a Web site generated only a "no comment" from the person who answered.
A Web site for his business states that Mack's wife is named Charla and that they have three children.
Police cordoned off a three-by-five block area in downtown Reno for more than six hours after the courthouse shooting. Swarms of SWAT team members from the Reno and Sparks police departments and Washoe County Sheriff's Department searched the parking structure and other buildings in the area.
A bomb squad checked Weller's car, parked in a structure next to the courthouse, after a bomb-detecting dog alerted experts to the vehicle, but no bomb was found, police said.
One man, Charles Albertson, said he made his daily trip to the post office and then discovered police would not let him return to his home in the Comstock Hotel until they completed their search.
"This is a shock," he said. "I moved away from Los Angeles to get away from crime, and now it happens here."
Darin Conforti, administrator of family court, said the shooting stunned employees in the courthouse.
"This is the inherent risk of trying to resolve conflicts," he said. "Sometimes you don't resolve them peacefully. People take the law in their own hands."
The courthouse windows are not bulletproof, and court officials will be looking in coming weeks for ways to better protect employees, Conforti said.
A clerk for Weller, Annie Allison, also suffered minor injuries from shrapnel or glass fragments, but her wounds were superficial and she was treated for them and released, officials said.
Johns said police were able to respond almost immediately to a report of a shot or shots fired because they were in the area on court business. Three SWAT teams responded to search for a suspect.
Mack told a Reno television station several weeks ago he believed Weller was corrupt, KRNV-TV reported Monday.
KRNV-TV anchor Shelby Sheehan said Mack and a friend brought documents to the Reno news station several weeks ago in an attempt to substantiate their claims that Weller was not impartial in his rulings.
"The pair alleged improprieties in the way Weller handed down verdicts and claimed Weller based some or all of his decisions on donations to his campaign," Sheehan said during a newscast Monday night.
The shooting rocked the legal and judicial community in downtown.
District Judge Jerome Polaha had left a meeting with Weller at about 9:30 a.m.
"I talked to one police officer who did not confirm the shot came from the outside, but everyone else seemed to think it came from outside," he said. "One of the officers was talking to him and he said, 'I think I've been hit' as he was crawling out of his chambers."
Polaha said the entire court staff was in disbelief.
"We try our best to do a good job, we think we're helping people, and then somebody starts shooting," he said.
Polaha acknowledged, however, that emotions run high in family court, where cases frequently involve child custody, money and home ownership.
Weller has generated some controversy on the bench.
In a letter to the editor in the Nevada Appeal on May 6, Lisa Smith of Carson City criticized the jurist.
"It is my opinion his cowboy law, personal bias, and lack of regard for what is in the best interest of children is demonstrated through each and every open, closed, and emergency hearing he holds," Smith said in the letter.
Family court attorney Marilyn York, who practices frequently in front of Weller and who supported his candidacy for the office, said the judge is fair but tough.
There are criticisms on the Internet of Weller, but they can all be traced back to a single Web site, she said.
"The rumor mill is that Weller is pro-male and too hard on women," York said. "We represent men only and we have 200 clients at any one time. We're one of the few firms who won't seek to pre-empt him.
"I have heard women complain he is too hard," she said. "But he is equal. Women are used to getting a softer voice in court. We believe Weller is an equal opportunity judge."
York said she does not believe the shooting was random.
"Divorce attorneys and family court judges are more likely to get hurt, killed and threatened," she said.
Negative comments about Weller can be found on the Web site of a group called Nevadans for Equal Parenting. Paul Mozen, who called himself the "de facto" spokesman for the group, said Weller has the most pre-emptions of any judge on the Washoe court. A pre-emption is when an attorney seeks another judge to hear a case.
Mozen, who said he has had no personal dealings with Weller, said the judge has appeared to generate a lot of animosity with both men and women.
"We basically believe a judge should defuse the anger and bad feelings," he said. "Having an adversarial system in criminal court is one thing. But it just further fuels the flames in family court.
"This is indeed a tragedy," Mozen said. "I hope they catch the guy who did it soon."
Family law attorney Ken McKenna said he had a case scheduled to be heard by Weller on Tuesday.
"I've known Chuck Weller for over 20 years," he said. "We had cases opposite each other as lawyers.
"He does have a reputation as being no nonsense," McKenna said. "Certainly in a family court environment that can be mistaken for being abusive."
Although emotions often run high, McKenna said he saw Weller at an adoption hearing a couple of months ago where the opposite was true.
"His sentiments, compassion and humanity to the adoptive family was so beautiful, it brought tears to your eyes," he said. "I have great respect for Chuck Weller. I pray and hope that he is OK."
Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Bob Rose, in a prepared statement, called the shooting an outrage.
"It is a slap against lawful authority and an attack not just against a judge, but against everyone," he said. "The shooting of a judge, who was dedicated to helping citizens resolve their disputes, is one of the most despicable and cowardly acts imaginable."
