Judge decides to leave bench

District Judge Lee Gates, who is facing a complaint that he misused campaign contributions, will not run for re-election this year.

In a statement read by his executive assistant, Delois Williams, Gates said Wednesday that he is stepping down from his Department 8 seat but did not say why he is choosing not to run.

Gates, the only black elected judge on the Clark County District Court bench, could not be reached for comment. Williams said further information was unavailable about the decision to retire.

Gates was appointed to the bench in 1991 and has served as chief judge. Before taking the bench, Gates was a deputy public defender, a private attorney and a deputy district attorney. He received $130,000 annual salary as judge.

"(Gates) is a tremendous asset to the bench and I'm sorry to hear he has decided not to seek re-election," Chief District Judge Kathy Hardcastle said in a statement.

In a Nov. 2 complaint, the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission alleged that Gates improperly contributed $10,000 to two candidates during the 2004 election, which constituted an endorsement of judicial candidates and a violation of judicial rules.

The commission later dropped the charges because of a Nevada Supreme Court ruling that a judge's contribution to a political campaign does not constitute a political endorsement and is a matter of free speech.

Gates is still facing a complaint concerning whether he failed to report the contributions in a timely manner and whether he could use his own campaign funds to make the contributions.

The complaint alleges Gates contributed to the re-election bids of Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Karen Bennett-Haron and Supreme Court Justice Michael Douglas using leftover campaign funds from his 2002 re-election bid, when he ran unopposed.

The complaint will go forward even if Gates steps down from the bench, said David Sarnowski, executive director and general counsel for the Judicial Discipline Commission.

Gates, 55, has until Jan. 22 to file a response to the commission's complaint. Gates has denied the accusations, Sarnowski said.

Douglas Smith, chief judge of Las Vegas Justice Court, previously announced that he would run against Gates for the Department 8 seat. He said on Wednesday that his decision was not the result of any personal rivalry against Gates and that he still plans to run.

"I wish him well," he said.

Gates, known for his gruff demeanor on the bench, is married to former County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates, who is facing a Las Vegas police investigation into whether she illegally paid relatives campaign funds that were funneled back to her.

Their house, in Summerlin, has been listed on the market since April 26 for a price of $4,495,000.

Gates' stepson, Brian Atkinson Turner, is facing child endangerment and drug charges.

Gates' supporters think that the accusations against Atkinson Gates and the charges against his stepson made Gates appear vulnerable to a challenger.

"I strongly suspect that he (Gates) drew an opponent and may be considered vulnerable because of Atkinson Gates merely because they share the same name and are married," said Jonathan MacArthur, an attorney in private practice who clerked for Gates briefly in the summer of 2002 and considers the judge a mentor.

MacArthur lost his position as a substitute judge in North Las Vegas after the district attorney's office found hostile comments about prosecutors on MacArthur's MySpace Web page and asked the North Las Vegas court administrator to have MacArthur recused from criminal cases.

Gates often scores low in biennial judicial surveys published by the Review-Journal. The anonymous surveys ask members of the bar to rate judges in Clark County on a variety of traits, from understanding court procedures to freedom from bias.

Fifty-six percent of those surveyed in 2002 said Gates should keep his seat. That dropped to 49 percent in 2004 and 2006. The average retention percentage was about 73 percent in 2004 and 2006.

The most repeated criticism against Gates concerned his disposition.

MacArthur conceded that Gates has a reputation for being surly and tough on attorneys but said the judge is "really friendly and approachable." He also praised Gates for being fiercely independent, which might have helped to draw detractors.

"Gates didn't have any outside forces influencing his decisions. Gates didn't compromise," he said.

Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-1039.