Fraud case echoes in court

The federal fraud case against Las Vegas lawyer Noel Gage remains unresolved, but testimony from his criminal trial already is having repercussions for civil cases in Clark County District Court.

Last week, lawyers for Emilia Posas filed a motion to overturn a defense verdict in her personal injury case against Nicole Horton. The motion is based on the testimony of Dr. Benjamin Venger, a key government witness in the Gage case who admitted he had committed perjury in other cases. That testimony stands in contrast to the testimony he gave in the Posas case in July, her attorneys argued.

"This motion is premised upon the fact that the defendant's only medical expert, Dr. Benjamin Venger, lied under oath during the trial in this case," Posas' lawyers wrote. "Dr. Venger was questioned, under oath, whether he would always testify truthfully and accurately while under oath. He responded in the affirmative."

Beau Sterling, who is handling the appeal for Posas, said he expects other lawyers to file similar motions based on Venger's admissions in federal court.

"The validity of those cases certainly can be called into question," Sterling said.

Horton's lawyer, George Ranalli, said he was preparing an opposition to Posas' motion. He said any inconsistencies in Venger's testimony "would not change the outcome of this case."

"The jury didn't believe the plaintiff because, in my opinion, it was a frivolous lawsuit," Ranalli said.

However, the lawyer said he is moving to "dedesignate" Venger as a witness in other cases in which he had notified the court of his intention to use the neurosurgeon as an expert. He said he has had to find other medical experts for those cases.

"Obviously, I don't want any federal court issues to distract from the cases that I'm defending," Ranalli said. "It wouldn't be fair to the defendant in the case to have whatever issues Dr. Venger is going through affect my client's case."

Venger and Dr. John Thalgott both received immunity in exchange for their testimony in the Gage case.

Both neurosurgeons admitted they had lied under oath in the past.

A hung jury in the Gage case resulted in a mistrial March 18, and a retrial has been set for May 27.

Gage and medical consultant Howard Awand are accused of conspiring to cheat clients in personal injury cases and enrich themselves. A trial for Awand, who also is accused of recruiting a network of doctors and lawyers to participate in the conspiracy, is set to begin in October. No one else has been charged in the federal case.

Sterling said Thalgott's admission of perjury, like Venger's, has the potential to affect any case in which he testified as an expert.

The Posas case stemmed from a March 2002 traffic accident in which her vehicle was rear-ended by Horton's vehicle.

Posas, a 34-year-old Las Vegas resident, claimed she suffered severe injuries that resulted in two surgeries on her lower back and a surgery on her neck. According to court records, her medical expenses totaled about $490,000.

After a trial in July, the jury returned a defense verdict. A judge later ordered Posas to pay nearly $40,000 in court costs to Horton, the wife of personal injury lawyer G. Dallas Horton.

Sterling said the case since has been assigned to the Nevada Supreme Court's settlement program.

In the motion to set aside the verdict, Posas' lawyers argued that they had "good grounds to suspect that Dr. Venger in this case committed fraud upon the court both as to his expert testimony and in specifically denying under oath that he had lied in other cases."

"Moreover, there is good cause to suspect that the jury would have reached a different result in this case had they been told the truth," the lawyers wrote.

According to the motion, Venger testified that he thought Posas was lying about her injuries.

"If Dr. Venger would have admitted at trial that he has lied under oath on previous occasions, the jury in this case would have had the opportunity to disregard some, if not all, of his testimony," the document states.

Attached to the motion is a partial transcript of Venger's testimony in the Gage case. It shows that defense attorney Thomas Pitaro posed the following question during his cross-examination of Venger: "So what we now know is that you are an admitted perjurer, don't we?"

"Yes," Venger replied.

A hearing on Posas' motion to set aside the jury verdict in her case has been scheduled for April 28, and a settlement conference is scheduled for May 14.

"Now that this fraud has come to light, we are hoping that Ms. Horton and her insurance company will agree to settle this case or at least agree voluntarily to set aside the judgment so that Ms. Posas can have a fair trial," Sterling said.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.