DA appeals dismissal of Quon arson indictment

The district attorney's office is appealing a judge's decision dismissing an arson indictment against embattled construction defects lawyer Nancy Quon and her boyfriend, former police officer William Ronald Webb.

District Judge Douglas Herndon ruled last week that the judge who oversees grand jury matters had abused her discretion by allowing prosecutors to obtain the indictment after a previous panel had refused to file arson and insurance fraud charges.

Herndon concluded that District Judge Linda Bell should have gotten more detailed information from prosecutors about their intentions before allowing them to go back to a new grand jury.

"We disagree with his interpretation of the law," Assistant District Attorney Chris Owens said Monday. "We're going to appeal."

Herndon had encouraged the appeal last week after he concluded from the bench that the state law on how to resubmit grand jury cases was vague.

The judge did not fault prosecutors for seeking the charges, saying the evidence they ended up presenting to the new panel appeared to support an arson indictment.

A hearing was set Tuesday for prosecutors to tell Herndon of their plans to ask the Nevada Supreme Court to overturn his decision.

Prosecutors may ask Herndon at the hearing to delay setting a trial date in an earlier criminal case against Quon, 51, and Webb, 43, until the Supreme Court decides the appeal. Quon and Webb, both free on bail, are charged in that case in a drug conspiracy tied to a possible suicide scheme on Quon's part.

Quon was originally indicted in April on a single felony count of conspiracy to violate the Uniform Controlled Substances Act. The indictment charged that Quon provided the cash for Webb to unlawfully buy 29.2 grams of the club drug gama-hydroxybutyric acid from undercover detectives. Police contended Quon was trying to arrange her own death with the drug, which police said the couple incorrectly thought would be undetectable.

Webb also was charged with conspiracy to commit murder, but the grand jury refused to charge both Quon and Webb in the fire that caused some $300,000 in damage to Quon's Rhodes Ranch home.

With Bell's permission, prosecutors later presented the arson evidence to a new grand jury and obtained the indictment against the couple in August.

Quon was charged with five felonies, including first-degree arson, conspiracy to commit arson and insurance fraud. Prosecutors alleged she set fire to her home in a botched suicide scheme, but she has denied the allegations.

Police and prosecutors have contended Quon was looking to escape the pressure of a federal investigation into a scheme to take over Las Vegas Valley homeowners associations.

Quon is a central figure in the scheme, which involved stacking homeowners association boards with friendly members who would hand out legal work and construction defect contracts to co-conspirators. She has not been charged in the investigation.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.