Opinion ID: 1162726
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Clark County District Attorney Incident

Text: On February 27, 1985, appellant held the Office of the Clark County District Attorney in direct contempt of court because a deputy district attorney was unable to announce at a calendar call whether or not the state would be ready to try a criminal case on a date previously set for trial. The complete facts regarding this episode are detailed in a prior opinion of this court reversing the contempt citation issued by appellant. See Clark Cty. Dist. Atty. v. District Court, 101 Nev. 843, 710 P.2d 1384 (1985). [21] The commission admitted into evidence a certified copy of the opinion at the formal hearing. Other evidence admitted and considered by the commission included exemplified copies of appellant's order to show cause and his order of contempt. Additionally, appellant testified extensively regarding this incident at the formal hearing. The evidence established that this court reversed appellant's contempt order because the actions of the deputy district attorney did not constitute a contemptuous act under either NRS 22.010 or NRS 199.340, and because [t]here was no showing that anyone connected with the Clark County District Attorney's Office deliberately or recklessly disregarded their duties with respect to [Judge Goldman's] court. An oversight occurred, but it did not disrupt the court or prejudice the defendant. Clark Cty. Dist. Atty., 101 Nev. at 845-46, 710 P.2d at 1386. Notwithstanding this court's holding, however, appellant insisted in his testimony before the commission that his order of contempt was entirely appropriate and that his various actions entailing issuance of show cause orders and contempt citations in general had all been quite correct. A portion of appellant's testimony respecting this specific incident is set forth in the margin. [22] Based upon this evidence and testimony, the commission found that appellant abused the contempt power vested in him as a judge.