Gregory L. Denue,
a candidate for an Eighth Judicial District Court seat, filed a
complaint on July 5, 2004, accusing Bill Henderson, another candidate in
the same race, of knowingly misrepresenting his candidacy on signs which
identify Mr. Henderson as a candidate for justice court. Under
questioning from his counsel, Bradley J. Hofland, at the hearing on the
Complaint on July 22, 2004, Mr. Henderson testified he intended to run
for justice court when he posted his signs in January and February,
2004. He said he changed his mind several days before the May 3, 2004
filing deadline, and registered instead to run for a district court
seat.
Mr. Denue
asserted before the Committee that his opponent was in violation of
Nevada Judicial Canon 5 A(3)(d)(iii), which provides: “A candidate for
a judicial office shall not: knowingly misrepresent the identity,
qualifications, present position or other fact concerning the candidate
or an opponent”. Mr. Denue’s witness, Keith Brower, Esq., testified he
had seen a number of the uncorrected signs, particularly in downtown Las
Vegas, and the signs misled him as to which office Mr. Henderson was
seeking. Mr. Denue submitted several pictures of such uncorrected
signs in the downtown area as part of his written Complaint.
Mr. Henderson
testified he had purchased stickers with a reference to “district court”
to cover up the words “justice court” on his smaller signs, but had
not yet corrected all of them. He said he no longer knew where he had
posted all of his smaller signs and that was part of the reason he had
been unable to put the stickers on them. He also testified the
incorrect language had been painted over and corrected on all his larger
signs, commonly referred to as “A‑frames”.
Mr. Denue argued that not only was Mr. Henderson in
violation of the Canon, but that he was using his signs to improve his
name recognition, in the event he did not win the current race and ran
again for another judicial position. Mr. Henderson’s counsel responded
by stating that the failure of his client to correct all of his smaller
signs did not rise to the level of “knowingly misrepresent[ing]” a fact
about his candidacy, as required under Canon 5.
The testimony
before the Committee established Mr. Henderson had posted his signs for
the justice court race in January and February, 2004 when he intended to
run for a justice court seat. In early May, 2004, Mr. Henderson changed
his mind and filed for a district court seat. However, some of his signs
still erroneously state he is running for justice court.
The
Committee does not find at this time that the evidence before it supports
a finding of a willful and knowing misrepresentation in violation of Canon
5A.(3)(d)(iii). However, the Committee does find Mr. Henderson had, and
still has, an ongoing duty to maintain accurate signage. The Committee
also finds that when Mr. Henderson reached the decision to run for
district court in early May, 2004, he should have immediately made
reasonable and timely efforts to correct all his campaign signs. Mr.
Henderson should take all reasonable steps to immediately correct any
misstatements on any posted campaign signs or literature. Based on the
Canon, any candidate for judicial office has a duty to insure that the
candidate’s campaign signs and literature accurately reflect the name of
the office the candidate is seeking.
After the panel had
deliberated and this Decision was drafted, Mr. Hofland, on behalf of Mr.
Henderson, wrote to panel member George Foley on July 27, 2004. Mr. Foley
had presided at the hearing on July 22, 2004. Mr. Hofland raised a
potential conflict on the part of panel member Kathleen Paustian, who also
serves as the Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee. Mr. Hofland stated
that one of Ms. Paustian’s partners, Nancy Allf, is married to David
Thomas, who has been doing campaign work for Kenneth C. Cory, the
incumbent in the race in question. Mr. Hofland identified Ms. Allf as a
“co‑host of a political fundraiser for Judge Cory”. Mr. Denue responded
to Mr. Hofland. Ms. Paustian wrote to the Standing Committee on July 29,
2004, indicating she was aware that Mr. Thomas was providing some type of
campaign service to Mr. Cory, but was not aware of the fundraiser before
receiving a copy of the July 27 letter from Mr. Hofland. Ms. Paustian
then determined Ms. Allf was listed as part of a “Host Committee”, along
with approximately 25 other attorneys, for a reception at the Las Vegas
Country Club for Kenneth Cory on August 4, 2004. Ms. Paustian’s letter
has been provided to Mr. Henderson and Mr. Denue. All three letters were
circulated to the other members of the Hearing Panel and the panel
determined by a vote of four to zero that there was no conflict of
interest on the part of Ms. Paustian.
This Decision shall be
published in accordance with Rule 4‑4 of the Rules of the Standing
Committee on Judicial Ethics and Election Practices.
DATED this
3rd day of August 2004.
NEVADA STANDING COMMITTEE ON
JUDICIAL ETHICS & ELECTION PRACTICES
KATHLEEN M. PAUSTIAN
Committee Vice-Chair
