LAS VEGAS (AP) - Attorneys for two Las Vegas judges facing possible suspension over complaints about mistreating court administrative personnel said the allegations stemmed from employee grievances, not actions in a courtroom.
Justices of the Peace Melanie Andress-Tobiasson and Amy Chelini are not a threat to the public or to the administration of justice, their lawyers told the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline on Monday.
William Terry, representing Andress-Tobiasson, and Tom Pitaro, Chelini’s attorney, said their clients received high rankings from lawyers in a recent survey conducted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Pitaro called the two assets to the court system and to the community, the Review-Journal reported.
Commission prosecutor Brian Hutchins alleged a “pattern of recurring misconduct” that’s “very important to the administration of justice.”
The judges face possible suspension.
Kim Kampling, a former court administrator fired by a different justice of the peace in March, testified that she sensed pressure from Andress-Tobiasson and Chelini about certain court clerks. Kampling said she felt intimidated by people Andress-Tobiasson knew and said she felt that if she went against the wishes of the two judges her job would be at stake.
David Denson, a former court administrator fired in July after five years on the job, told the commission that Andress-Tobiasson and Chelini used profanity and “blacklisted” certain clerks who could not work in their courtrooms.
Pitaro later referred to the comments as “street slang.”
Denson said he had rare interactions with the two judges and that Andress-Tobiasson and Chelini played no role in administrative terminations, including his own.
Court employee Maggie Tucker, a supervisor in the criminal division, said she was upset by an email Andress-Tobiasson sent in August 2018 but did not testify about details of the message.
Tucker said she felt “undermined” when she tried to address “bullying” among court clerks.
Andress-Tobiasson, a former Clark County prosecutor, was appointed to the bench in 2009. Chelini is a former criminal defense attorney who was elected in 2016.
Their hearing was set to continue Tuesday at the Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.