Court Opinion

ID: 9577012
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:30:54.089674+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:19:49.873608
License: Public Domain

Springer, J.,
dissenting:
In my opinion, the NCAA probably cannot get a fair trial in Las Vegas; therefore, I dissent.
In these kinds of cases, “[ajppellate tribunals have the duty to make an independent evaluation of the circumstances.” Sheppard v. Maxwell, 384 U.S. 333, 362 (1966). Although we have traditionally reviewed change of venue orders on the basis of whether there was “manifest abuse of discretion” in the trial court’s ruling, it is my view that, given the constitutional dimensions of this case, we should conduct a de novo review of the record below. There is no reason in the present case why this court should not engage in an independent review of this matter and decide, independent of the trial court’s ruling, the legal and constitutional question of whether there is a reasonable likelihood to believe that the NCAA cannot get a fair trial in Las Vegas.
What the record reveals is that for many years Mr. Tarkanian has been a folk-hero’s folk-hero in Las Vegas, a “legend,” the town’s “biggest star,” the “most powerful” person in Las Vegas and a man “who will never be forgotten.” I can think of no one in the history of Las Vegas who can match the glory of this man; but there is someone that can match Mr. Tarkanian, not in glory, but in infamy — none other than the “embodiment of evil,” the “Adolph Eichmann,” the “Ayatollah” and the “Gestapo” of sportsdom, namely, the “barbaric” National College Athletic Association.
The picture is quite plain: Local folk-hero is wrongly and unfairly destroyed by a foreign devil which had “indulged in a 20-year conspiracy to drive [Tarkanian] from coaching” and to “ruin [Tarkanian’s] name and reputation with the intent of running him out of coaching.” Now representatives of the Las Vegas *615community are being called upon, in jury empaneled, to pass judgment on whether their “ruined” folk-hero should be compensated for the harm claimed to have been caused to their hero by a wrongful conspiracy wrought by the hands of those “evil” NCAA people “in Kansas City.” To my way of thinking, this case “represents exactly the type” of case where the place of trial must be changed. See Martinez v. Superior Court of Placer County, 629 P.2d 502, 503-08 (Cal. 1981).
All of the characterizations which I mention above (NCAA as being the villain, embodiment of evil, barbaric and the like; and the legendary Las Vegas celebrity, Mr. Tarkanian, as being the victim of a wrongful conspiracy perpetrated by the NCAA people from Kansas City) are matters not of occasional public comment but, rather, matters that have been the subject of the most extensive, saturating media coverage that has been afforded to any Las Vegas celebrity. The NCAA maintains, and I agree, that local prejudice — both ways — is so “widespread and deeply embedded into the community’s consciousness that its biased effects cannot be alleviated.” Even absent the social scientists’ opinion supporting this conclusion, it is clear to me that the NCAA’s position in this matter is correct.
Of course, it can be argued that the torrent of publicity has subsided and that no one in Las Vegas much remembers “Tark” any more. I think that the record belies such an argument; but even if it were correct, and even if the publicity has died down, the very nature of this lawsuit involves “peculiar” or “sensational” subject matter which “bring[s] it to the consciousness of the community,” where it remains, virtually indelible to this day. Martinez, 629 P.2d at 502, 506. There can be little doubt from the record now before us that the consciousness of this community overwhelmingly supports its hero and overwhelmingly damns the evil villain from Kansas City. Mr. Tarkanian’s case against the NCAA should not have to be tried under these circumstances.
The record shows that most people in Las Vegas want Mr. Tarkanian to win this lawsuit, and almost three out of four believe that the NCAA has done great damage to their university, UNLV. Even if this kind of data does not demonstrate that the NCAA cannot get a fair and impartial trial, permitting the trial to proceed in Las Vegas at least demonstrates an appearance of injustice. We must ask ourselves whether “justice satisfies the appearance of justice” and whether there is an “appearance of impartiality.” In re Murchison, 349 U.S. 133 (1955). It most certainly appears to me that it is impossible for the NCAA to get a fair trial in Las Vegas; therefore, I dissent.