Defense group joins objection to ‘Las Vegas Law’

A group of defense attorneys asked the Nevada Supreme Court to join in a request to prevent the Clark County District Attorney’s television show from filming trials.

Lawyers with the Clark County Special Public Defender’s Office have argued that the production crew for “Las Vegas Law” is not a news organization and should not be allowed to film court proceedings. They’ve also questioned the ethical standing of prosecutors who appear on the show.

This week, the Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice, with roughly 150 members, said those questions “impact all defense lawyers in any criminal case throughout the state.”

Attorneys for My Entertainment TV, the production company for the show, have argued that the company is a news entity and should be granted access to courtrooms just like other programs.

A tagline for the so-called “docu-drama” or “docu-series” on My Entertainment’s website refers to prosecutors as “‘superheroes’ fighting crime in one of the wildest cities on the planet.”

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson has an editorial say in the production, but crews follow prosecutors and defense lawyers around the courthouse without using a script or directorial control.

Lisa Rasmussen, a board member for the statewide defense group, filed what is known as a “friend of the court” brief on Tuesday.

“The issues raised (by Special Public Defenders) are issues impacting not only an accused constitutional right to a fair and impartial jury and a fair trial,” Rasmussen wrote. “But the issues involve matters of public policy and the ethical considerations of counsel.”

Wolfson said he had not seen the latest court papers and declined further comment.

In a series of guidelines on electronic coverage of court hearings, the state’s high court defines news reporters as “any person who gathers, prepares, collects, photographs, records, writes, edits, reports, or publishes news or information that concerns local, national, or international events or other matters of public interest for dissemination to the public.”

Over the objection of defense attorneys, a camera crew from “Las Vegas Law” filmed a murder trial that wrapped up last week. On Thursday, crew members were filming two other trials this week for the show’s second season.

Michael Pandullo, an defense lawyer who appeared in two episodes of the show’s first season, said he sees benefits to working with the camera crew. Prosecutors turn over interviews recorded for the show, and he’s able to gauge potential jurors who might have seen him on television.

“You can be a part of it or not be a part of it. And not being a part of it doesn’t really help,” Pandullo said. “It’s not going to really change anything in the case.”

This week, a film crew followed him and his wife, Jennifer Pandullo, along with prosecutors Bernie Zadrowski and Michelle Sudano, for the trial of Jaquenetta Price, who is accused of attacking a fellow dancer at the strip club Sapphire.

Along with a crew operating two video cameras inside courtroom 15C, mini video cameras had been placed on tripods atop both the defense and prosecution tables.

In one scene filmed in Pandullo’s office for the first season of “Las Vegas Law,” prosecutor Jake Villani lightheartedly said Pandullo was “a little bit like an evil superhero.” In turn, Pandullo called Villani and fellow prosecutor Binu Palal “a couple of DA golden boys.”

In another episode, Pandullo said his hourlong closing argument was cut down to less than a minute.

“At the end of the day, that’s the way it’s portrayed on the show,” he said. “It’s not like the jury didn’t get to hear my argument.”

Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.