Attorneys debate defense bid to get judge off embattled Las Vegas sergeant’s case

Attorneys debated Tuesday whether a judge overseeing a suspended Las Vegas police sergeant’s criminal case should be disqualified from hearing the case.

Suspended Metropolitan Police Department Sgt. Kevin Menon, 43, faces criminal charges in three separate cases.

Prosecutors have accused him of illegally detaining people on the Strip, possessing hundreds of sexual images of girls and setting up bathroom cameras to capture videos that showed the genitalia and buttocks of his wife and sister-in-law, although the women say the videos were consensual.

Defense attorneys Dominic Gentile and Austin Barnum made their bid to disqualify District Judge Ronald Israel in a March motion filed in the Strip case, arguing Israel “suffers from, at a minimum, implied bias” because abuse allegations his daughter has made would be investigated by the same Metro unit that employs a detective who looked into Menon, potentially leading Israel to avoid rulings unfavorable to police.

The hourslong hearing before District Judge Mark Denton ended without a decision — Denton said he would later issue a ruling — but allowed Menon’s attorney to question the way police looked into the allegations about Israel and gave prosecutors an opportunity to suggest the defense’s motives were improper.

“What we have here is the defendant is engaging essentially in forum shopping,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Hamner said.

Denton disagreed. “I don’t consider defense counsel’s zealous advocacy to be forum shopping,” he said.

Sarah Israel, the judge’s daughter, said in YouTube and TikTok videos that her life was “completely at risk” that her father withheld health care from her and that he “tried to pull a gun” on her, according to video excerpts quoted in court filings.

She could not be reached for comment.

Israel said in an affidavit that he could not comment on his daughter’s “mental health issues” but was “unaware of any facts that would even remotely create any bias.” A court spokesperson said Israel would not have any comment Tuesday.

Under questioning from Gentile, Lt. Jarvis Dudley of Metro’s criminal intelligence section testified he did not find Sarah Israel’s video statements credible and did not think there was a need to proceed with an investigation.

“I don’t want to speak ill of Judge Israel’s daughter, but to me, it seemed like she was mentally ill,” Dudley told the court. “It appeared to me that she was speaking in generalities. There was no specifics about crimes.”

Dudley said he had not contacted Sarah Israel or made an effort to ask her questions but conceded doing so would have been a way to learn more about her claims.

Metro had tried to quash a subpoena for Dudley to testify. “What’s really happening here is they’re dragging the name of the judge, Judge Israel, through the mud and using the trauma that he’s having in his personal life with his daughter,” said Matthew Christian, a department attorney.

Denton let Gentile question Dudley anyway.

Gentile, who has been practicing law since 1972, said this is the first time he has filed a motion to disqualify.

“I did what I thought needed to be done by an ethical attorney,” he said.

The issue is not actual bias, but implied bias, Gentile said. Menon’s case is high profile, he added, and there needs to be a public perception of fairness.

Although Gentile said the situation in Menon’s case was unusual, Hamner warned ruling in Gentile’s favor could have unintended consequences and make every Clark County district judge subject to recusal.

“If the decision is made to disqualify (Israel) on this, this encourages any defense attorney who’s unhappy with rulings to file a motion and say, ‘Hey, I found something on the Internet and now I think there’s an issue of implied bias,’” he said.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.