Davidson verdict shows jury doubted Kenny’s truthfulness as a witness

Erin Kenny, your 15 minutes are up.

That's the message a jury sent Tuesday at U.S. District Court in the criminal trial of real estate consultant Don Davidson when it failed to convict him on a majority of the corruption counts he faced. Those counts hinged substantially on the testimony of former Clark County commissioner/political prostitute Kenny and whether the jury bought her story.

By now you know Kenny's story so well you could use it as a stand-up comedy routine.

Did you hear the one about the commissioner who sold out her community for hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribe cash, used her elderly daddy as a front man in a plan to disguise the ill-gotten loot in an offshore trust account, sucked up a bundle of greenbacks from a topless bar mogul, then sprinted like a member of the U.S. Olympic team to cut a deal and sell out her colleagues and partners in crime?

At least, some of her partners. Kenny turned and burned fellow former Commissioners Dario Herrera, Mary Kincaid-Chauncey and Lance Malone, then threw in Davidson in as a kicker. But, somehow, she couldn't remember doing anything illegal with her No. 1 developer sugar daddy, Jim Rhodes.

Instead, she claimed to suffer from memory lapses due to a self-diagnosed case of vertigo. But she did remember to tell the court she remains on Rhodes' payroll as a "government affairs consultant" for a $16,800 monthly paycheck. That's $201,600 a year for a consultant who isn't welcome in any local Southern Nevada government building, with the possible exception of the wastewater treatment plant.

A jury that can only be called extremely conscientious weighed complex evidence in the Davidson case and convicted him of counts 19-24 of his indictment, charges related to his conspiracy to bribe then City Councilman Michael McDonald. Davidson's attempt to peddle influence for a local developer was never consummated, but government phone surveillance recordings capture him talking like a common wiseguy about having "five dimes" to spread around. In other words, he basically convicted himself.

The first 18 charges were related to the shady zoning changes that Kenny lobbied for and rammed through on behalf of the developers of a CVS Pharmacy at Buffalo Drive and Desert Inn Road. Under oath, Kenny admitted taking in $200,000 in one lump and adding another $3,000 a month from Triple Five Development in a deal she said Davidson helped facilitate. And, indeed, Davidson's fingerprints are all over the place.

But the more Kenny explained the CVS deal, the more she cemented her reputation as the Hoover vacuum of Southern Nevada politics.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Schiess and his office have a week to decide whether they will attempt to retry the 73-year-old Davidson, but it's hard to imagine a professional like Schiess returning to court with such a damaged key witness.

If Kenny were a vaudevillian, she'd be getting the hook.

At least, that's what Davidson's defense attorney Dominic Gentile believes. Gentile used the word "trollop" to describe Kenny's lack of veracity.

"I think they'd be making a mistake," Gentile said. "I think this community's pretty much had it with Erin Kenny."

Actually, I've heard rumors Strip comedians will dedicate an entire night of one-liners in her honor to thank her for providing so much material. Inside a courtroom Kenny's about as welcome as Heidi Fleiss at a Junior League mixer.

No offense to Heidi Fleiss.

How will Kenny's questionable candor affect her sentencing, which after many delays is scheduled for this morning?

On paper, she could receive four years, but no one who has followed this case expects her to receive anywhere close to the maximum. This is where Kenny's coyote-like savvy -- and I mean no offense to coyotes -- is about to pay off.

Outside court, Gentile said he expected Kenny to catch approximately two years, and that's less time than Davidson is expected to receive. That's less time than club owner Michael Galardi and ex-commissioners Herrera, Kincaid-Chauncey, and Malone received.

For a trollop, she's no dummy.

On the contrary, she's a high-paid government affairs consultant.

Gentile scoffed at her job status, then deadpanned, "I understand she's doing quite well in that industry."

With Erin Kenny, everyone's a comedian -- and the material almost writes itself.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0295.