Panel begins hearing on jurist

The Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline met behind closed doors Monday to consider suspending newly elected District Court Judge Elizabeth Halverson.

According to court documents unsealed by the Supreme Court, the purpose of the hearing is to evaluate evidence that Halverson:

• Is "without sufficient legal abilities to conduct criminal cases," which could harm the administration of justice.

• Has failed to perform her duties impartially and diligently.

• Slept during a court proceeding on at least one occasion.

• Is biased against certain attorneys.

• Has failed to work cooperatively with other judges.

• Had failed to perform her judicial duties "promptly, efficiently and fairly."

Halverson, who was in the hearing, would not comment, but in previous interviews she has defended her abilities and her work on the bench. She has stated that she has been a targeted by other judges who are unhappy she was elected in the first place.

District Judge Stewart Bell, Court Administrator Chuck Short, former Halverson bailiff Johnny Jordan and Judicial Executive Assistant Ileen Spoor were among those who testified Monday about Halverson's behavior as a judge.

Everyone called to testify was ordered not to discuss the hearing. Proceedings before the commission are, by law, confidential until a formal statement of charges is filed. The seven-member constitutionally created commission's decision on whether or not to impose a paid "interim suspension" of Halverson will also be secret.

Court documents unsealed by the Nevada Supreme Court on Friday, however, revealed that this week's hearing is actually to determine whether to reinstate an interim suspension of Halverson ordered by the commission on May 10. The commission had put that order on hold because Halverson requested a hearing.

On May 11, Chief District Judge Kathy Hardcastle barred Halverson from the Regional Justice Center because, Hardcastle said, Halverson had circumvented courthouse security protocol when she brought in two private bodyguards.

Halverson has maintained she needed to hire her own security after the courthouse removed the bailiff she hired, Johnny Jordan, from her courtroom and provided her with temporary bailiffs whom she said she didn't trust.

She and her attorneys, Dominic Gentile and Bill Gamage, have a lawsuit pending in the Nevada Supreme Court against Hardcastle. It alleges that the chief judge overstepped her authority when she barred Halverson from the courthouse in May. The lawsuit also claims Hardcastle had no right to take all criminal cases away from Halverson, which Hardcastle did in April.

By law, it is a secret as to who submitted the complaints to the commission, but they mirror those outlined in Hardcastle's response to Halverson's lawsuit.

Hardcastle said she took criminal cases away from Halverson because Halverson needed to gain more experience and had been unwilling to meet with veteran judges who might counsel her.

Hardcastle's response to Halverson's lawsuit included affidavits from veteran judges whom Hardcastle had asked to work with Halverson as well as affidavits from Halverson's former staff. Those former staff members said they had been tasked with ensuring Halverson stayed awake in court. They complained Halverson showed bias against an attorney, saying he didn't donate to her campaign.

Hardcastle's filing also noted examples of Halverson's "seemingly volatile, angry, paranoid and bizarre behavior toward staff."

One of those former staff members, Halverson's former bailiff Jordan, was seen coming out of the commission's meeting room at the Sawyer Building on Monday.

According to human resources report included in Hardcastle's response to the Supreme Court, Halverson made Jordan feel like a "house boy" and had him rub her feet, massage her and perform other inappropriate tasks.

Court officials said Jordan filed a complaint against Halverson with the Clark County Office of Diversity so they were required to remove him from Halverson's supervision.

Elected to the bench in November with little trial experience, Halverson came under fire at the courthouse in March after she unintentionally broke the law by speaking to two juries without attorneys.

Both cases were child molestation cases, and one of the defendants caught a break with a plea deal because of Halverson's gaffe.

Prosecutor Lisa Luzaich, who handled one of the cases in which Halverson spoke to the jury, and defense attorney Violet Radosta, who handled another, are among those subpoenaed to testify before the commission.

District Judge Stewart Bell, who according to documents filed with the Supreme Court told Halverson at one point to "get some psychological help," also testified before the commission for about 15 minutes.

In the Hardcastle response, Bell stated that Halverson's former staff had "made allegations which, if sustained, would amount to violations of law, county policy and union contracts. We believed that we had a duty to take immediate action to protect Judge Halverson and bailiff Jordan as well as to protect the county from potential future liability."

He and other judges had warned Halverson she could face punishment from the Judicial Discipline Commission based on her former staff members' allegations.

Halverson's former judicial executive assistant, Spoor, testified for about an hour and a half before the commission.

Spoor has filed a defamation lawsuit against Halverson. The judge fired her and has since proclaimed to media that her former secretary was involved in illicit behavior, which Spoor has denied.

Members of Halverson's current staff were also present to testify before the commission Monday. They may be testifying in favor of Halverson. They sat with her at a table in the cafeteria during the commission's lunch break and appeared to be having friendly conversations with her.

Halverson's new law clerk, Sally Owen, who was subpoenaed, said briefly that Halverson was a "wonderful judge" and wanted to see an end to the "circus."

Review-Journal writer Sean Whaley contributed to this report.