Nevada Supreme Court considers $9 million judgment in Crazy Horse Too assault

CARSON CITY — A Las Vegas attorney representing a Kansas man who became a quadriplegic after an altercation at the Crazy Horse Too in 2001 asked the Nevada Supreme Court on Tuesday to uphold a $9 million judgment against former topless club owner Rick Rizzolo.

But in oral arguments to the court, attorney Dan Carvalho, representing Rizzolo, argued that a lower court’s imposed judgment in favor of Kirk Henry should be overturned because of a rule requiring a trial to commence within five years.

Even though a settlement agreement had been reached between Rizzolo and Henry in 2006 to pay him a total of $10 million for the assault by Crazy Horse Too bouncers over an $80 bar tab in September 2001, the agreement kept Rizzolo at risk of trial until the full amount was paid, Carvalho said in his opening brief in the case. Because the potential of a trial remained, the five-year rule should apply, he said.

But attorney Donald Campbell, representing Henry, told the court that the five-year rule does not apply to the case.

“This is nonsense; this is sophistry,” Campbell said of Carvalho’s argument to the court.

The case was not going to trial because a settlement was reached, he said. Campbell took the case to Clark County District Court in 2011 and had the settlement turned into a judgment because of Rizzolo’s continued failure to make good on the agreement, he said.

The case before the Supreme Court, which will rule later, was an appeal by Rizzolo of that lower court action turning the settlement agreement into a court judgment.

Campbell said evidence was presented to U.S. District Court Judge Phillip Pro about Rizzolo’s continued efforts to hide his assets that led to his imprisonment for a second time in 2011.

Justice Michael Cherry noted that Rizzolo initially paid Henry $1 million as part of the settlement agreement, which would appear to be an implied waiver of the five-year rule.

After the hearing, Campbell had harsh words for Rizzolo.

“In my experience Mr. Rizzolo is one of the most despicable human beings I have ever dealt with in my professional career either as a prosecutor or as a civil litigant,” he said.

Rizzolo has engaged in “every form of chicanery there was to be had, and is completely unrepentant and without any contrition for what he has done,” Campbell said. “And this case is just a continuation of that.”

Kirk Henry and his wife Amy still live in Kansas and did not attend the hearing.

Campbell said the initial $1 million payment to Henry was almost immediately consumed for medical bills.

Contact Capital Bureau reporter Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Follow him on Twitter @seanw801.