Judge rejects Boggs’ video request

A judge on Tuesday denied former Clark County Commissioner Lynette Boggs' request to throw out video evidence that shows her living outside the commission district she was elected to represent.

Authorities said the videos, which captured Boggs picking up her newspaper and taking out the trash, indicate she was residing, at least part-time, at a home outside District F while seeking re-election.

Boggs is accused of lying about her place of residence in election filings. She is facing charges of felony perjury and filing a false document.

Boggs' attorney, Gabriel Grasso, argued that the videos were irrelevant because the footage was taken in July and August of 2006, several months after Boggs filed for office.

He equated the situation to accusing someone of robbing a bank in May but then using as evidence the fact that the suspect went back to the bank several months later.

"It's irrelevant to what we're talking about here," Grasso said.

But Chief Deputy District Attorney Scott Mitchell disagreed.

"It would be always impossible in these types of cases to gather evidence before she even filed for office," he said.

District Judge Donald Mosley ruled that the videos were not irrelevant and will allow them to be used as evidence in Boggs' trial, scheduled for January.

The video was taken by private investigators working on behalf of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association and Culinary Local 226. The Las Vegas PPA is the union that represents rank-and-file officers.

Investigators captured the footage of Boggs in her bathrobe walking into and out of a house at 3646 Dutch Valley Drive, which is in District C, north of the southwestern valley district in which she was seeking re-election. In court papers, she said she was living at 3686 Grays River Court, inside District F boundaries.

Boggs has said she thought the unions targeted her because she voted in 2005 to remove Commissioner Tom Collins from the Metropolitan Police Department's Fiscal Affairs Committee, which was set to approve a substantial raise for police. She also had ties to Station Casinos, a longtime foe of Culinary Local 226.

Boggs, who currently is working in Texas, did not attend Tuesday's hearing.

Grasso said that at the time she filed for office, she was going through a "nasty" divorce. Her divorce attorney advised her to spend a little time at the Dutch Valley home, or her husband would get the house. He said Boggs' divorce attorney will testify at her trial.

Mosley previously dropped other felony charges of perjury and filing false documents against Boggs in connection with the case.

The charges were connected to accusations that Boggs tried to get around campaign finance laws by claiming her baby sitter as a campaign expense.

Mosley ruled that Boggs did not willfully try to mislead authorities.

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