Court briefs for July 10, 2002

Wednesday, July 10, 2002 | 8:53 a.m.

Man sentenced in traffic deaths

An 18-year-old Las Vegas man was sentenced to four to 20 years in prison Tuesday in connection with a February accident that killed two men.

David Samaniego-Cerna lost control of a sport utility vehicle when trying to pass a slower moving car on Las Vegas Boulevard, causing his vehicle to flip.

Rodrigo Lopez, 18, and Gilberto Palafox, 33, were killed and Samaniego-Cerna and another passenger were treated for minor injuries.

Samaniego-Cerna, who had a 0.135 blood alcohol level after the crash, pleaded guilty to two counts of driving under the influence of an intoxicating liquor, causing death.

"My whole family has been destroyed because of this tragedy that could have been avoided," Palafox's wife of 14 years, Claudia Macias, told District Judge Michael Cherry.

Palafox is also survived by three children.

Bad-check case moves ahead

A California woman who claims Celine Dion's husband sexually assaulted her two years ago has allegedly failed to live up to her end of a bargain in a bad check case.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Dan Ahlstrom said Yun Kyeong Kwon Sung, 46, had until July 9 to begin paying $550,000 she owes Harrah's or face trial on multiple bad check charges.

Because Sung had not paid anything by Tuesday morning, Ahlstrom said Sung's case was transferred from Las Vegas Justice Court to Clark County District Court. She is scheduled to be arraigned July 23 by District Judge Michael Douglas.

Sung's attorney, Harry Gensler, could not be reached for comment.

Sung and her husband filed a civil complaint March 15 against Rene Angelil, his corporation and the Imperial Palace, alleging Angelil, Dion's husband and manager, assaulted her in March 2000.

Metro Police are investigating the allegation.

The lawsuit was put on hold last month after District Judge Allan Earl ordered the parties to meet with arbitrators.

Bobbitt remains in county jail

John Wayne Bobbitt will remain in the Clark County Detention Center on probation violation charges after a Fallon judge refused to release Bobbitt from custody Tuesday because Bobbitt and his second wife, Joanne, continue to live together following an alleged domestic disturbance in May.

Bobbitt, 35, admitted guilt June 4 to four of five probation violations, and Churchill County District Judge Archie Blake told Bobbitt he could leave home only to work at his job with a moving company. He already was on five years' probation after pleading guilty in 1999 to attempted grand larceny.

Also on Tuesday, Bobbitt entered a not-guilty plea on the domestic violence charge stemming from the May incident, Levinson said. A preliminary hearing date is set for July 30 in Las Vegas Municipal Court.

Unopposed judges can sit on panel

The Nevada Supreme Court expanded the number of District Court judges who are eligible to sit on discipline panels that oversee complaints about election practices.

Panels are formed when there is a dispute between judicial candidates over the code of judicial ethics during a campaign. The panel is composed of two lawyers, two lay members and a District Court judge, who is a non-voting member.

The board decides if there has been a violation.

David Sarnowski, general counsel and executive director of the state Judicial Discipline Commission, told the court the rules now prohibit any judge who is up for election from sitting on a panel.

This year nearly all the District Court judges are on the ballot, many of them without opposition. Sarnowski said that leaves only about six eligible judges in the state to serve on the panel. Some of the eligible judges in Northern Nevada do not like to travel to Las Vegas, where the majority of complaints are expected.

Sarnowski sought and the court agreed that judges who are unopposed on the ballot may sit on the discipline panels.