NEW JUDGE, TRIAL AND INDICTMENT

Robert Kahre -- a Las Vegas businessman charged with federal tax crimes that could put him in prison for the rest of his life -- gets a new judge for his second go-round, thanks to a maneuver rarely successful for criminal defendants in federal court.

The defense recently won a writ of mandamus from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Defense lawyers argued that Judge Robert Jones was stepping on Kahre's right to legal representation when the judge decided Kahre could not hire Lisa Rasmussen as an additional attorney for his next trial.

The appeals court also ordered the case reassigned and erased a contempt finding that Jones had made during the first trial against Kahre's first lawyer, William Cohan, who continues to represent him.

Prosecutors argued before the appeals court, unsuccessfully, that Rasmussen had a conflict of interest representing Kahre because in the earlier trial she had represented Joel Axberg, a co-defendant who was acquitted.

A year ago, prosecutors tried Kahre and eight other defendants on 161 counts of breaking tax laws but came away with zero convictions.

The next trial is not a retrial of those charges but a new trial on a "new" indictment -- the latest in a series of seven indictments -- that came out in November.

Kahre is one of five defendants in the next trial.

The court here has not yet assigned a new judge because the appeals court just granted the writ on Friday. Judges Kent Dawson, Lloyd George and James Mahan already have recused themselves from the case.

Also facing trial are Kahre's wife, Danille Cline; Kahre's sister, Lori Kahre, who worked in his office; Alex Loglia, who did paralegal work for him; and Thomas Browne, a real estate agent and loan officer who helped with several purchases of property.

The government thinks Kahre bought the properties in the name of relatives to hide his assets.

Such writs are rare, particularly for the defense side, said Washington, D.C., attorney Christopher Landau.

"They grant it very sparingly," he said. "There has to be a clear error, and the petitioner has to show that the injury is immediate and irreparable."

Landau heads appellate litigation for Kirkland & Ellis, a nationally known law firm. Writs of mandamus are more common in state courts, he added.

The Kahre case revolves around whether Kahre and his workers willfully evaded taxes by agreeing to be paid in gold and silver coins.

The individuals then each determined they did not need to pay any taxes because adding up the face values of the coins received per year fell below the threshold for filing a tax return.

Also, Kahre did not withhold taxes for the workers because he contends they are independent contractors.

In the first trial, the court told the jury that taxpayers need to account for coin income by the fair-market value of the precious metal content.

The defense acknowledged that Kahre and others might be forced to pay taxes owed but contended their mistakes were not intentional, nor criminal.

The federal government is alleging Kahre undervalued gold and silver coins. But the government accepted such coins at face value -- issuing no change back -- when defendants have paid filing fees at federal court in Las Vegas using a mix of gold and silver coins plus paper dollars, according to several affidavits.

The U.S. attorney's office in Las Vegas wouldn't comment on the 9th Circuit's sending the Kahre case back to be heard by a new judge.

Judge Jones also declined to comment on the reassignment. But in court on March 10, Jones had invited defendants to request his removal from the case with their request for a writ of mandamus.

Contact reporter Joan Whitely at jwhitely@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0268.