Judicial hearing muddled by contradiction of testimony

Bill Gang

Thursday, April 1, 1999 | 11:07 a.m.

Contradictions over events in a Justice Court eviction case two years ago muddled the first day of a disciplinary hearing targeting Justice of the Peace Doug Smith over his jailing of two people on contempt of court charges.

Smith was scheduled to take the witness stand in his own defense today as the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline concludes its hearing into allegations he abused his judicial powers.

The first day ended with no clear picture emerging of the May 15, 1997, incident that resulted in Ruby Simon-Anderson, a school nurse, and her eviction agent, Jack Ruggles, being held in contempt of court.

Both testified Wednesday, saying they had done nothing to provoke the judge. The disciplinary case centers only on the jailing of Simon-Anderson.

Yet both of their stories were contradicted in part by Nevada Legal Services attorney David Olshan.

After Simon-Anderson evicted Suzette Davoult for nonpayment of rent, the landlord hired Ruggles and his Simple Evictions moving and storage company to clean out the rental house.

The bill came to more than $3,000, which was sent to Davoult. Davoult contested the seizure of the property and the bill.

The case came to Smith's courtroom, and the judge sided with Davoult, ordering the property returned within three days.

The case turned ugly outside the courtroom when Ruggles and Davoult's attorney, Thomas Pitaro, got into a confrontation that drew the attention of Smith's bailiff. The case returned to the courtroom.

Ruggles charged that Pitaro started the fray by gloating about his courtroom victory, but Olshan told the disciplinary commission that Ruggles exploded after Pitaro asked "the completely reasonable question" about when the property would be returned.

Olshan said that "Ruggles turned around, looked Pitaro straight in the eye, squared up and said he wasn't getting the property.

"The sense I got was that (Ruggles) wanted to start a fight either physical or verbal," Olshan said, adding that Ruggles called Pitaro "a wimp, a sissy."

Simon-Anderson testified that during the verbal jousting she had walked a couple of hundred feet from the area, but Olshan said the landlord was standing nearby as Ruggles refused to give back Davoult's belongings.

Olshan conceded that Simon-Anderson didn't join in the refusal, but noted that she also did not agree to turn over the property.

Back in court after the confrontation, Pitaro told the judge that Ruggles and Simon-Anderson weren't going to follow his ruling. Despite the pair's denials, Smith concluded they were in contempt of court and ordered them jailed until the property was returned.