Judicial candidate charged with domestic violence

Bill Gang

Friday, Sept. 4, 1998 | 11:21 a.m.

The day after he gathered enough votes to become a finalist for a Family Court judgship, attorney James Guesman appeared in Las Vegas Justice Court to face domestic battery charges.

Visiting Justice of the Peace Marley Robinson set a Sept. 25 trial date on the misdemeanor battery charge that has implications far beyond the potential $2,000 fine or six-month jail term.

Should Guesman be convicted and the circumstances warrant it, the State Bar of Nevada could hand down additional punishments that may include a suspension of his license to practice law, according to State Bar Counsel Rob Bare.

But what Guesman and his attorney, Patricia Erickson, are most concerned about is that under a new Nevada law, a person convicted of domestic violence is precluded from owning guns.

"That's important because he is a hunter," Erickson said of the attorney who routinely dresses in western clothes and wears a cowboy hat.

Erickson said that Guesman has demanded a speedy trial because of the potential impact of the domestic violence case on his candidacy as a Family Court judge. Had he not sought a quick trial setting, a trial would not have been heard until after the November general election.

Guesman finished second in Tuesday's primary election for the Department A seat to incumbent Bill Voy, sending both of them to the general election for the non-partisan post.

The charges against Guesman allege that on May 5 he grabbed his girlfriend, Collette Putnam, around the neck, slammed her head against a wall and threatened to "knock her out."

The case is being prosecuted by the district attorney's Domestic Violence Unit.