NCAA must wait on change-of-venue ruling in Tarkanian case

Thursday, April 17, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The National Collegiate Athletic Association has never lost a money judgment in a court case, but it says the odds are stacked against it in the upcoming Las Vegas trial involving former UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian.

Tarkanian says the NCAA ruined his name and is asking for an unspecified amount of money.

Stewart Fitts, a Las Vegas attorney representing the NCAA, told the Nevada Supreme Court Wednesday there is so much community bias against the organization in Las Vegas that the trial should be moved to Reno.

A public opinion poll in Las Vegas, Fitts said, showed Tarkanian is favored over the NCAA by a margin of 6-1.

But Daniel Polsenberg of Las Vegas and Kathy Ferberg of Irvine, Calif., attorneys for Tarkanian, urged the court to allow the case to go to trial in Las Vegas June 23. Polsenberg said there are 1 million people who can be drawn for a jury pool, not just the 18,000 who attend UNLV basketball games.

Ferberg said the NCAA's poll was flawed and in no way reflects the attitude of a potential jury.

Tarkanian, under investigation by the NCAA, resigned from UNLV, later coached the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA and now coaches Fresno State.

The court took the arguments under submission and will rule later. But at least two of the four justices sitting on the case indicated they may favor the Tarkanian side.

Justice Bob Rose said the day the suit was filed the NCAA should have known about the possible prejudice in Las Vegas against the organization. Yet it waited for years before filing its request for a change in venue.

"It should have been filed when you realized you had a problem," Rose said.

In addition, Rose said, the NCAA has a "fail-safe, fall-back" position. When it questions potential jurors, it can then make its motion, asserting it can't get a fair trial.

Chief Justice Miriam Shearing said she suspected that if a poll was taken in a community about a criminal suspect, that 90 percent of the people would be against him or her. "But that doesn't prevent them from getting a fair trial," she said.

Fitts said he wanted the case moved to Reno even though a public opinion poll there showed people favor Tarkanian by a 2-1 margin. "That still concerns us but we don't know where to go," he told the court. Rose quipped that maybe they should hold the trial in Elko.