Walters case awaits decision by embattled district judge

Bill Gang

Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2000 | 10:44 a.m.

The ball is in the court of District Judge Donald Mosley, whose impartiality is being questioned by the prosecutor in the money-laundering case of politically connected gambler and golf course developer Billy Walters and three others.

Mosley had until today to remove himself from the case or answer contentions that his personal friendship with one of the defense lawyers in the case is so close that he could not be impartial.

His court staff said today only that "something will be filed by the end of the day."

If he chooses to fight, another district judge will decide after a hearing whether Mosley should remain on the case.

Mosley previously dismissed two grand jury indictments against Walters. A third indictment obtained by the Nevada attorney general's office has now been assigned to him.

Walters is charged in the money-laundering indictment along with James Jay Hanley, computer expert Daniel Pray and New Yorker John Tognino.

In addition to the allegations of favoritism, court documents filed Monday claim that Mosley has become embroiled in something of a feud with Metro Police detectives involved in the controversial case.

Deputy Attorney General David Thompson stated in the documents that when officers declined to sign affidavits stating that "certain allegations against Mosley were without merit," an employee of the judge announced there "could be repercussions."

"Judge Mosley then contacted the officers' superior to discuss what apparently the judge believed was a 'vendetta' against him," the documents stated.

Thompson suggested that Mosley should be removed from the Walters case because "an impartial observer would reasonably question his impartiality under these circumstances."

Prosecution documents also contend that Hanley's lawyer, John Moran Jr., is too closely associated with Mosley for Mosley to be fair.

The prosecutor contended that not only is Moran a longtime personal friend and hunting companion of the judge, but Moran and his wife had testified on Mosley's behalf in the judge's child custody case in 1994.

"The situation gives the appearance of possible impropriety because of the closeness of the relationship, the possibility of an exchange of favors in the current judicial proceedings and because the judge chose not to reveal the existence of the relationship," Thompson has written in court documents.

The defense has countered that "the state's outrageous and purposely indirect attack on Judge Mosley appears intentionally designed to infuriate the judge to the extent that when the case is properly assigned to him he will be so angry he will recuse himself because of those emotions."

The defense team has charged that Thompson has been engaged in improper forum shopping from the time the third indictment was returned late last year in an attempt to keep the case out of Mosley's courtroom.

When the third indictment was returned, Thompson told Chief District Judge Lee Gates that the allegations were substantially different than the first two cases.

Because of that, the chief judge randomly assigned the case to District Judge Michael Douglas.

But the defense showed that the third case is based on the same facts as the first two and won an order from Gates to return it to Mosley's courtroom.