Felony charges stand in Boggs case

Felony charges against former Clark County Commissioner Lynette Boggs will stand even though the law is "somewhat unclear," a district judge said Wednesday.

After an hour-long court hearing, Judge Donald Mosley ruled Boggs will still face felony perjury and filing a false document charges for claiming to live in a house within her district when she allegedly lived outside Commission District F.

Boggs is scheduled to go to trial July 28.

During the hearing, Boggs' attorney Gabriel Grasso argued that felony charges were inappropriate considering the allegations. He said that willfully making a false statement on a campaign filing form is a gross misdemeanor under Nevada election law, and does not constitute perjury.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Scott Mitchell, however, said that the form Boggs filled out clearly states that candidates risk perjury charges if they willfully give false information.

After a technical discussion on the wording of the law, Mosley said he was "going to give deference" to the state.

Boggs, standing next to Grasso during the hearing, held a look of concentration on her face. She made no statement during the hearing and declined to comment afterwards.

Grasso said Boggs, who was indicted in August, remains essentially unemployed but has an Internet radio show.

He said the charges against her hurt her marriage and contributed to her divorce.

"She went from someone who had the world in the palm of her hand to somebody who is really living day to day," he said.

A grand jury indicted Boggs on two counts of perjury and two counts filing a false document.

Prosecutors accused Boggs of living at 3646 Dutch Valley Drive, which is outside her district, even though she claimed in campaign papers to be living at 6386 Grays River Court. The Grays River home is within her district.

Grasso said that Boggs believed the house at Dutch Valley Drive would eventually be part of her district after rezoning.

Authorities also accused Boggs of trying to get around campaign finance laws by paying her baby-sitter with campaign funds in 2006 and listing the baby-sitting fees as "special events" expenses.

Mosley in February dropped those charges, saying that Boggs didn't willfully try to hide the baby-sitting fees.

The charges against Boggs stem from an investigation paid for by the Las Vegas Police Protective Association and Culinary Local 226. Investigators captured footage of Boggs in 2006 collecting the newspaper, taking out trash and coming and going from the Dutch Valley Drive house.

Boggs has said she thought the unions targeted her because she voted in 2005 to remove County Commissioner Tom Collins from the Las Vegas police's Fiscal Affairs Department, which was going to approve a raise for the police union. Collins supported the raise and Boggs' vote was seen as opposition to the raise.

She also has ties to Stations Casinos, a foe of the Culinary union.

During grand jury testimony, Boggs said she split her time between both homes, adding that the Dutch Valley home is about 50 feet from her district.

The woman with whom Boggs claimed to share the house disputed how often Boggs was there. Linda Ferris told investigators Boggs rarely went into the Grays River house and said Boggs wanted her to establish a paper trail showing that the former county commissioner resided there.

Contact Review-Journal reporter David Kihara at 702-380-1039 or dkihara@reviewjournal.com.