Judge’s appeal in discipline case rejected

CARSON CITY -- A Las Vegas judge who already got his censure from a discipline panel erased by the Nevada Supreme Court has lost in a bid to get another break from the high court in the same case.

Justices rejected Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge George Assad's bid for a rehearing of their June decision that erased Assad's censure for having a woman handcuffed and jailed for just over two hours to assure her boyfriend appeared in court on traffic charges.

In the June ruling, justices said the censure imposed by the state Judicial Discipline Commission was "too extreme" because there was no finding of willfulness, and Assad instead should apologize to the woman and take a judicial ethics class.

But the Supreme Court upheld the finding of a judicial canon violation, and also supported the discipline panel's refusal to admit expert testimony on judicial ethics at its proceedings involving Assad.

In both the June ruling and this week's rehearing denial, Chief Justice Mark Gibbons and Justice Michael Cherry dissented because of the refusal to allow the expert testimony. Justice Bill Maupin dissented from the latest order, saying he wanted more information on the issue of discipline for nonwillful conduct.