Las Vegas lawyer who called Nevada high court ‘evil’ suspended
A Las Vegas attorney who wrote in a death penalty appeal that the Nevada Supreme Court was “dishonest” and “evil” has been suspended from practicing law.
After the high court rejected an appeal of condemned prisoner Charles Lee Randolph, his lawyer, James Colin, asked for a new hearing and filed papers that sought to have four justices disqualified.
“The court is drunk with power, acting like a lawless bully, just lying and cheating to accomplish its evil objective to see Randolph dead,” Colin wrote in 2014. “This Nevada Supreme Court has no respect for the Nevada Constitution, or the law of the United States of America. The Court’s despicable and blatantly lawless actions have repeatedly proven this sad truth.”
Randolph was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for the 1998 execution-style killing of Shelly Lokken, a bartender at Doc Holliday’s Tavern during a robbery.
Colin also wrote that the justices who decided on Randolph’s case were “vindictive, dishonest and totally biased … They have concocted false and unsupportable legal theories … and appear to be willing to do anything to achieve their evil aims.”
The State Bar filed a disciplinary complaint against Colin in early 2015, and he failed to show up for a hearing on whether his writings violated rules of professional conduct, although he had denied violating the rules.
In a decision handed down last week, a special panel of judges, including Justice Lidia Stiglich, who was not on the Supreme Court bench at the time of the decision on the appeal, decided that Colin should serve a suspension of six months and a day, and pay $2,500 for the costs of the disciplinary proceedings.
“Colin violated duties owed to the legal system: making false statements about the integrity of a judge and engaging in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice,” Stiglich wrote. “Colin’s misconduct harmed the legal system and likely the public’s perception of the legal system.”
Attempts to reach Colin on Tuesday were unsuccessful.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.