LV judge vows to fight ethics complaint

Thursday, March 23, 2000 | 11:11 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- District Judge Donald Mosley of Las Vegas says he will fight a complaint by the state Judicial Discipline Commission that alleges he misused his office by giving a criminal defendant favored treatment in return for his help in a child custody case.

The complaint filed Wednesday also accuses Mosley of doing a judicial favor for a friend who supported him in his custody battle over his son and of improperly writing personal letters on court stationery.

He has 20 days to submit an answer to the charges. He can ask for a hearing, which must be public and must be held within 60 days.

Mosley said he would "absolutely" contest the complaint.

"I would love to present my side," Mosley said, adding that he may be prevented by judicial rules from commenting on the pending case. He said he is researching to see if he can comment publicly. The Judicial Discipline Commission receives complaints against judges from residents, which are investigated by special prosecutors. If enough evidence is found, the prosecutor files a formal complaint for the commission, which the judge can challenge.

If the commission finds "willful misconduct" on the charges, Mosley could be removed from office or lesser penalties could be imposed such as censure, a public reprimand or a fine, Leonard Gang, executive director of the commission, said.

The complaint, brought by special prosecutor Mary Boetsch, a Reno attorney and former chairwoman of the state Ethics Commission, accuses Mosley of several violations of the judicial code of ethics, including having improper conversations with criminal defendants or their representatives who had ties with his child custody case.

Mosley said the ethics complaint was sparked by he and his former girlfriend's long and heated custody battle over their son.

One of the most serious allegations against the judge involves conversations he had with attorney Catherine Ann Woolf, who represented Joseph McLaughlin, who was awaiting sentencing by Mosley on charges of robbery and burglary.

Mosley, according to the complaint, met privately with Woolf on Aug. 14, 1997, and talked about the potential testimony McLaughlin and his wife could provide for Mosley in the child custody dispute.

Seven days later, the complaint says, Mosley met with Woolf and McLaughlin in the offices of Las Vegas attorney Carl Lovell, who was representing the judge in the custody case. The complaint says there were more conversations about the potential testimony that McLaughlin and his wife could provide to help Mosley.

Mosley twice refused to step aside on the McLaughlin criminal case. Then on Oct. 10, 1997, the judge recused himself from the case, only after the McLaughlins had testified on his behalf at the custody hearing. The complaint alleges neither of the McLaughlins knew the judge planned to recuse himself.

McLaughlin was sentenced by another judge to three to 10 years in prison. Later Mrs. McLaughlin talked with Mosley about her husband being in the same prison as a co-defendant against whom he had testified. Mosley contacted the prison at least once to try to get McLaughlin transferred.

The complaint also said Mosley interceded on behalf of Mrs. McLaughlin to get a car returned from a third party, even though he had recused himself from the case.

The complaint said Mosley continued to "engage in contacts and conduct including interceding for their benefit and such conduct created the appearance that you were rewarding them for assisting you in your custody dispute."

The relationship between Mosley and the McLaughlins came up last week during a hearing in which the Nevada attorney general's office attempted to get Mosley disqualified from the Billy Walters case.

Walters, a well-connected golf course developer, has been indicted three times on money laundering charges. The attorney general's office alleged that Mosley was biased toward Walters because he dismissed two of the indictments.

Chief District Judge Lee Gates refused to disqualify Mosley from the Walters case, saying there was "no evidence whatsoever" of bias on the part of Mosley.

The discipline commission's complaint also accuses Mosley of doing a judicial favor for another friend who had testified on his behalf in the custody case. The complaint alleges that in August last year the judge had ex parte conversations with Barbara Orcutt, a longtime friend, concerning the arrest and release of Robert D'Amore, who had been arrested on theft charges.

Sun reporter Kim Smith contributed to this story.