you ate ALL the sweet and sour sauce?
more on our good friend judge steven jones--- i couldn't make this shit up if I tried.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: Accuser worked for another judge
Mosley released suspect in jail on battery charge
By GLENN PUIT
REVIEW-JOURNALThe woman who accused Family Court Judge Steven Jones of domestic violence once worked for District Judge Donald Mosley, the judge who authorized Jones' release from jail on a battery charge last week, officials confirmed Tuesday.
Amy McNair, 34, told police that Judge Jones beat her at his home last week because of an argument over a "chicken nugget," according to police reports obtained Tuesday by the Review-Journal.
"She (McNair) advised that today's altercation was over a chicken nugget," a police report states. "She then motioned to a chicken nugget lying on the floor in front of a closed bedroom door."
McNair also told police that Jones had previously beat her, then threatened to use his job as a judge to get her fired if she reported the matter to law enforcement, according to the police reports.
Jones, 48, was arrested at his home last week amid allegations he shoved McNair, causing her to fall and hit her head on a banister. Jones spent about 12 hours in jail before being released from the Henderson Detention Center under an order from District Judge Donald Mosley.
By law, anyone arrested for domestic violence must remain in jail for at least 12 hours.
Mosley confirmed in an interview with the Review-Journal on Tuesday that McNair, a part-time legal secretary, worked for him as a temporary secretary for a matter of weeks approximately a year ago. Mosley said he also knows Jones, but he is not close personal friends with the Family Court judge.
"I know and like both of them," Mosley said.
Mosley said despite knowing both parties, he had no qualms about issuing an order to release Jones from the Henderson Detention Center. He said the decision to release someone on their own recognizance, as he did with Jones, is an administrative one, meaning he would not need to recuse himself.
"It's not like I'm taking sides here," he said.
Mosley said he ordered Jones released from custody in large part because he was concerned Jones could be harmed while in custody.
"He's a judge in jail. ... It's potentially a dangerous situation," Mosley said.
Mosley added that he did not feel Jones was a danger to society or likely to miss future court dates. "There wasn't a reason in the world that Judge Jones needed to languish in jail for two or three days," Mosley said.
But another judge, Henderson Municipal Judge Ken Proctor, already had denied a request to release Jones when Mosley ordered the defendant released.
McNair's attorney, Randall Roske, questioned Tuesday why Mosley would get involved in the case when he knows the victim and the defendant.
"I can't believe he would interject himself into this situation when he knew both parties," Roske said. "I would think that under the circumstances, he wouldn't have involved himself in the matter."
Jones is on a fishing trip in Alaska. As a Family Court judge, he regularly oversees cases involving domestic violence; but in the wake of his arrest, Jones was removed from any hearings involving such allegations.
His attorney, James Jimmerson, could not be reached for comment on this story, but he has said previously that Jones denies any wrongdoing. Jimmerson also has said that McNair's injuries were the result of a fall days earlier while she was in a drunken stupor, and not because of domestic violence.
According to police reports, McNair is Jones' live-in girlfriend, and the couple has been dating for five years. When police arrived at Jones' home on June 20, they found McNair crying and holding her head. She told police that Jones had shoved her during the argument, causing her to fall face-first into a banister.
Henderson police arrested the judge on a misdemeanor charge of battery/domestic violence.
When police questioned Jones, he denied assaulting McNair. He said McNair was drunk at the time, and that McNair likely suffered injuries to her face when she fell several days earlier.
"Steven appeared angry and reluctant to answer any questions," an officer wrote in a police report. "I questioned Steven's opposition toward me, and he advised that his demeanor was due to his previous contact with the Henderson Police Department."
McNair also told police that she is a bailiff, although Clark County officials say that is not correct. She is instead a part-time legal secretary.
A domestic battery report was taken days earlier at the home, the police report also states.
Roske has said McNair's mother had called police, but McNair at the time denied being assaulted. Roske said Jones had struck McNair in the chest with a "karate chop," prompting police to respond to the residence.
Jimmerson, however, said the karate chop allegation is simply not true.
McNair told police "her mother had hit her with crutches," Jimmerson said."During the 911 call for ... that incident, the person reporting advised that Steven had thrown Amy down a flight of stairs resulting in cuts and bruises on Amy's legs," the police report states. "During that investigation, Amy claimed that her injuries were due to being struck by her mother, who was not present.
"Throughout the investigation Steven informed Amy not to answer certain questions and that she was too intoxicated to report the incident," the report states.
Police records show the incident leading to Jones' arrest was the fourth time police responded to Jones' house in four years. In two of those incidents, McNair was arrested, and in one, Jones' teenaged daughter was arrested.
Also in the case Tuesday, Senior Judge J. Charles Thompson, who signed a temporary protective order against Jones on behalf of McNair, recused himself from the case.
Roske said Thompson disclosed that he has a shared business interest with Jimmerson in a limited-liability company. Roske said Thompson did not recuse himself earlier because he did not know until recently that Jimmerson was going to be Jones' defense attorney.
Roske said he suspects authorities will now seek a judge from outside Southern Nevada to preside over a hearing to determine whether the protective order against Jones should be extended for up to a year.
Find this article at:
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Jun-28-Wed-2006/news/8203986.html
posted by lila engel at 11:02 AM
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