Embattled Nevada judge removed from all criminal cases
The chief judge of Clark County District Court removed an embattled judge from all criminal cases days after a public defender said the judge should be disqualified for baselessly claiming the attorney and her client had an affair.
Chief District Judge Jerry Wiese gave no reason for his decision in a short administrative order Thursday, but he wrote that all criminal cases from District Judge Erika Ballou’s calendar will be reassigned to Department 9, a seat held by District Judge Maria Gall.
Ballou will take on additional civil cases, and the reassignments will start May 19, the order said.
Deputy Public Defender Anna Stone filed an affidavit Friday stating that the judge suggested her representation of a client was tied to a nonexistent sexual relationship, has refused to explain the reasons behind her rulings and did not permit Stone to “make a record about a custody issue implicating a client’s fundamental right to liberty.”
Stone asked for the judge to be disqualified from all of her cases.
In response, Ballou recused herself from the case of Jermaine Garner, who has pleaded guilty to possession of a stolen vehicle and awaits sentencing.
Attorney Tom Pitaro, who represents Ballou, declined to comment Thursday.
Ballou also faces a separate judicial discipline case.
The Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline has alleged Ballou showed bias toward a prisoner named Mia Christman and against prosecutors. Ballou ordered Christman’s release, and when the Supreme Court reversed her decision, did not order Christman to be taken into custody.
Ballou made rulings in the case while a motion to recuse her was pending, which the commission said another judge found to be a violation of the law.
The judge was also censured by the commission last year over social media posts and comments she made at a sentencing: “You’re a Black man in America, you know you don’t want to be around where cops are,” and “I know I don’t, and I’m a middle-aged, middle-class Black woman. I don’t want to be around where cops are because I don’t know if I’m going to walk away alive or not.”
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson previously attempted to have Ballou removed from all of his office’s cases. The Nevada Supreme Court removed her from one case, but Wiese rejected an attempt to have her removed from all district attorney cases in July.
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.