Prosecutors say judge is too close to defendants

Wednesday, Dec. 29, 1999 | 1:30 a.m.

Prosecutors say the criminal case against golf course developer and professional gambler Billy Walters should not be reassigned to the judge who dismissed two prior indictments.

Prosecutors made the claims this week in a court document opposing an effort by defense attorneys to have the case reassigned to District Judge Donald Mosley.

Mosley is faulted in the document for failing to disclose his friendship with John Moran Jr., the attorney for co-defendant Jimmie Hanley, Walter's security chief.

"The district judge's impartiality is open to question," Deputy Attorney General David Thompson wrote.

Walters, Hanley and two other men face charges stemming from what authorities say was a conspiracy to place illegal bets with out-of-state bookmakers and transport the winnings back to Nevada.

Thompson said authorities did not learn of the friendship between Mosley and Moran until after Mosley dismissed the second indictment in the case in December 1998.

The prosecutor said authorities subsequently discovered that Moran and his wife testified on the judge's behalf at a 1994 custody hearing, and that Mosley and Moran were hunting buddies who frequently dined together.

Defense attorneys contend the facts and the charges in the third indictment are essentially the same as those contained in the prior indictments. Therefore, they say court rules dictate that the case should be assigned to Mosley.