Challenger sued by Mosley for ads

Bill Gang

Thursday, Oct. 31, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Fuming over what he said are false and defamatory campaign ads, District Judge Donald Mosley has filed a lawsuit against his challenger for the seat he has held for 14 years.

The stinging ads challenge Mosley's reversal rate by the Nevada Supreme Court and allege that the judge beat up a motorist, assaulted an ex-girlfriend carrying a baby, got caught shooting at a bald eagle and recruited a judge to hear his own paternity case.

Mosley has alleged in the lawsuit filed Wednesday that the ads, often in the form of newspaper cartoon strips, are false and libelous.

"Flangas knew that the false statements could have a devastating impact on Mosley's good name, reputation and profession and fully intended them to achieve that result," the lawsuit states.

Flangas said the allegations in his ads are "absolutely true and documented."

He said late Wednesday that he is preparing a countersuit to be filed Friday against Mosley alleging abuse of process and malicious prosecution.

"I'm countersuing because it requires a countersuit," Flangas said. "He started it, I'm going to finish it. He's a bad man in every sense of the word."

Flangas charged that the timing of the lawsuit, filed by attorney Dominic Gentile, shows it was "clearly done as a campaign ploy."

But Mosley responded that it was just the result of Flangas' relentless attacks.

"You can take being lied about for only so many weeks," the judge said. "He's the one who put this in motion. I haven't said anything about him.

"He makes the assertions easily, but to explain the truth is much more involved," Mosley said, adding that he fears there will be a segment of the population that will forever believe the allegations.

The lawsuit contends that Flangas decided to run against Mosley because of two court cases in which Mosley's rulings went against Flangas -- one that cost Flangas several thousand dollars from his own pocket.

Flangas, according to the legal action, had unsuccessfully attempted to recruit other attorneys to run against Mosley before filing himself on May 31.

Flangas said that if he ran against every judge who ruled against him, he wouldn't have time for anything else.

"I wanted to be a judge," Flangas said. "I don't know why I picked him, maybe I don't like him."

But the lawsuit charges that Flangas' ads were "motivated by malice ... and designed from the inception to destroy Mosley's good name and profession for Flangas' own personal benefit."

Mosley said he is confident that voters will see through the challenger's claims.

Mosley charged that Flangas misled voters in campaign ads by claiming that Mosley was reversed by the Supreme Court in the vast majority of appeal cases.

The judge explained that Flangas didn't calculate all the appeal cases into his statistics, or consider the hundreds of cases that had been decided but not appealed.

One ad claimed that in 1994 Mosley was reversed 100 percent of the time in published opinions. While he was reversed on three published opinions, the lawsuit said Mosley was upheld on 29 other appeal cases that were not published.

"The Nevada Supreme Court publishes its decisions which reverse District Court orders at least twice as often as it publishes orders affirming the District Court," the lawsuit states.

"Flangas, as an attorney who has lost cases on many occasions and who has prevailed on a few occasions, knew or should have known of this practice."

The lawsuit, which seeks an unspecified amount in damages plus attorney fees, has been assigned to District Judge Michael Douglas. But it is likely the case will be transferred to a visiting judge rather than be heard by a judge in the same district where Mosley presides.