Judge upholds penalty for domestic battery

Bill Gang

Tuesday, Dec. 7, 1999 | 9:56 a.m.

More than a year after he was convicted of domestic battery on his girlfriend, Las Vegas attorney and former Family Court judge candidate James Guesman is one step closer to paying for the crime he still disputes.

A grim-faced Guesman marched from District Judge Sally Loehrer's courtroom moments after she upheld a decision by a Reno justice of the peace who had declared him guilty of domestic battery in October 1998.

After her decision, Loehrer commented briefly about the current domestic violence laws passed by the Nevada Legislature that specifies those convicted lose their rights to own firearms.

Gun ownership is an issue for Guesman because he is an avid hunter.

Loehrer predicted the "well-intentioned" Legislature will revisit the law in the next few years because of what she called the "very large penalty."

She noted that a conviction for simple battery carries no such "constitutional penalty."

Monday's court appearance was Guesman's first appeal of the conviction and it appears he will take the next step and file an appeal with the Nevada Supreme Court.

At the request of Guesman's lawyer, John Graves, Loehrer ordered that Guesman's punishment not be enforced for a month while he appeals to the high court. It will be up to that court to determine if a further delay in the punishment is warranted.

That punishment includes two days in jail, a $315 fine, 48 hours of community service and six months of domestic violence counseling.

While Graves had argued that the conviction was unfair and the witnesses shouldn't have been believed, Loehrer said her only role was to determine if there was "substantial evidence" to support a conviction.

The issue of deciding if witnesses are credible is up to the trial judge, she noted.

She said the physical evidence showed there was a bump on the head of Collette Putnam that required medical attention and evidence she told people at the time that Guesman had been responsible.

Putnam had testified that during an argument on May 5, 1998, in the house they shared in southwest Las Vegas, Guesman put his hands around her neck and slammed her head against a wall.

Guesman's version was that she slipped and fell.