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Las Vegas Review-Journal
COLUMN: John L. Smith
Attorney general's office preparing to take another crack at Walters case
If the on-again, off-again state money laundering investigation of gambling golf course developer Bill Walters has proved anything, it's that the attorney general's office doesn't give up easily.
After more than five years, three controversial indictments and a number of false starts, the embers of the case are again being poked by the state prosecutor. This time, Chief Deputy AG Gerald Gardner has filed for a status on the mangled first indictment of Walters and two other men involved in professional sports betting. The status check, due for court Aug. 14 before District Judge Mark Gibbons, is a sign the prosecution is considering continuing its case.
Noticeable in its absence from the state's filing is the name of dogged prosecutor David Thompson, who has been the focus of intense criticism by the defense in the case. Attempts to reach Gardner, Thompson, and Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa were unsuccessful Wednesday.
Ironically, if the case makes it past November, Gibbons will no longer be the judge. He will become a state Supreme Court justice. His likely replacement on the District Court bench is current District Attorney Stew Bell, who would again recuse himself from the Walters case as he did several years ago.
With many issues to be explored -- or is that exploited? -- by the defense, the case, which started in December 1996 with Metro's seizure of $2.8 million from Walters' betting group, remains miles from trial.
YUCCA PROTEST: Never let it be said the alphabet soup of environmentalist groups opposed to Yucca Mountain are giving up without a fight.
In what figures to be their final rally prior to next week's expected Senate vote on the nuclear waste repository, an array of citizens' groups and anti-nuclear organizations plan to block the entrance to Interstate 15 south of the Spaghetti Bowl at noon Sunday to remind passers-by of the potential dangers of shipping tons of high-level radioactive waste over the nation's highways.
Among the groups said to be participating: Citizen Alert, Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force, Women's Action for New Directions, Public Citizen, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Sierra Club, National Environmental Trust, League of Women Voters, Western Shoshone Nation, and Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada.
Here's a question I'd like answered: How many of those who will participate in that protest voted for George W. Bush?
Hey, just checking.
THE CHILDREN: Nevada has the 11th highest reported child abuse and neglect rate in the nation, according to statistics compiled by the Children's Defense Fund and presented in its 2002 "The State of Children in America's Union" report.
THE BADGE: Recent political polls have made much of several competitive races, but for some reason have not uttered a word about the Clark County sheriff's contest pitting Metro veterans Bill Young, Steve Franks, Randy Oaks and others in a battle to replace retiring boss Jerry Keller.
It's clear that Young has a fund-raising advantage and the experience of the local political machine behind him, but it's less certain whether that translates into much of an advantage thus far. Some reliable polling numbers would help clarify whether voters are involved in a horse race or a cakewalk.
Meanwhile, Franks has picked up the endorsement of the Clark County District Attorney's Investigators Association, a small but active organization.
ON THE BOULEVARD: Mayor Oscar Goodman is still giddy from finally breaking ground on the 430,000-square-foot Chelsea Property outlet mall development on 39 acres of vacant real estate across from the Clark County Government Center. He's only slightly less thrilled over the arrival of his likeness as a bobblehead doll as a promotion for an upcoming Las Vegas 51s baseball game. The doll depicts the mayor in a pinstriped suit carrying a baseball bat, an image which is sure to remind some Las Vegans of a few of the criminal defense attorney's old mob clients. Frankly, the bobblehead looks more than a little like Richard Dreyfuss.
COLUMN: John L. Smith
Attorney general's office preparing to take another crack at Walters case
If the on-again, off-again state money laundering investigation of gambling golf course developer Bill Walters has proved anything, it's that the attorney general's office doesn't give up easily.
After more than five years, three controversial indictments and a number of false starts, the embers of the case are again being poked by the state prosecutor. This time, Chief Deputy AG Gerald Gardner has filed for a status on the mangled first indictment of Walters and two other men involved in professional sports betting. The status check, due for court Aug. 14 before District Judge Mark Gibbons, is a sign the prosecution is considering continuing its case.
Noticeable in its absence from the state's filing is the name of dogged prosecutor David Thompson, who has been the focus of intense criticism by the defense in the case. Attempts to reach Gardner, Thompson, and Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa were unsuccessful Wednesday.
Ironically, if the case makes it past November, Gibbons will no longer be the judge. He will become a state Supreme Court justice. His likely replacement on the District Court bench is current District Attorney Stew Bell, who would again recuse himself from the Walters case as he did several years ago.
With many issues to be explored -- or is that exploited? -- by the defense, the case, which started in December 1996 with Metro's seizure of $2.8 million from Walters' betting group, remains miles from trial.
YUCCA PROTEST: Never let it be said the alphabet soup of environmentalist groups opposed to Yucca Mountain are giving up without a fight.
In what figures to be their final rally prior to next week's expected Senate vote on the nuclear waste repository, an array of citizens' groups and anti-nuclear organizations plan to block the entrance to Interstate 15 south of the Spaghetti Bowl at noon Sunday to remind passers-by of the potential dangers of shipping tons of high-level radioactive waste over the nation's highways.
Among the groups said to be participating: Citizen Alert, Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force, Women's Action for New Directions, Public Citizen, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Sierra Club, National Environmental Trust, League of Women Voters, Western Shoshone Nation, and Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada.
Here's a question I'd like answered: How many of those who will participate in that protest voted for George W. Bush?
Hey, just checking.
THE CHILDREN: Nevada has the 11th highest reported child abuse and neglect rate in the nation, according to statistics compiled by the Children's Defense Fund and presented in its 2002 "The State of Children in America's Union" report.
THE BADGE: Recent political polls have made much of several competitive races, but for some reason have not uttered a word about the Clark County sheriff's contest pitting Metro veterans Bill Young, Steve Franks, Randy Oaks and others in a battle to replace retiring boss Jerry Keller.
It's clear that Young has a fund-raising advantage and the experience of the local political machine behind him, but it's less certain whether that translates into much of an advantage thus far. Some reliable polling numbers would help clarify whether voters are involved in a horse race or a cakewalk.
Meanwhile, Franks has picked up the endorsement of the Clark County District Attorney's Investigators Association, a small but active organization.
ON THE BOULEVARD: Mayor Oscar Goodman is still giddy from finally breaking ground on the 430,000-square-foot Chelsea Property outlet mall development on 39 acres of vacant real estate across from the Clark County Government Center. He's only slightly less thrilled over the arrival of his likeness as a bobblehead doll as a promotion for an upcoming Las Vegas 51s baseball game. The doll depicts the mayor in a pinstriped suit carrying a baseball bat, an image which is sure to remind some Las Vegans of a few of the criminal defense attorney's old mob clients. Frankly, the bobblehead looks more than a little like Richard Dreyfuss.
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