Trial set for councilman in ethics case

Diana Sahagun

Tuesday, May 28, 2002 | 11:08 a.m.

A judge this morning set a trial date for Las Vegas Councilman Michael Mack, making him the first elected official in the city to face trial on misdemeanor charges under the city's ethics code.

In a 10-minute hearing in which he heard no arguments, Municipal Judge Bert Brown ruled against Mack's motion to dismiss the case. He set a trial for Aug. 15 and a pre-trial hearing July 9.

If he is found guilty of a misdemeanor, Mack will face removal from office and possible fines or jail.

"I disagree with his ruling," said Mack's attorney, Richard Wright, who promised an appeal.

Mack faces charges that he violated the city's ethics code on five occasions when he voted to postpone and ultimately deny a car dealership in 2001 without disclosing he owed $57,000 to a rival car dealer. The Las Vegas Ethics Review Board voted Feb. 14 that Mack willfully violated the ethics code. The board directed its attorney, John Graves Jr., to prosecute Mack in Municipal Court.

Wright argued in his motion that the case should be dismissed because the council overstepped its bounds by approving a city ethics ordinance. Wright also argued that the statute of limitations had lapsed and also questioned whether Municipal Court could hear the case.

Brown ruled that the city was within its authority when it gave the ethics board the power to find an elected official guilty of a misdemeanor for violation of the code. He also ruled that the statue of limitations had not run out in the case because Mack's alleged transgressions occurred at the time he voted, not when he took the loan from Courtesy Automotive dealer Joseph Scala.

He also ruled that a previous District Court ruling, in which Judge Sally Loehrer determined Mack's actions did not rise to the level of removal from office, does not preclude Municipal Court from hearing the case.

Wright said following the hearing that he plans to appeal the ruling -- either in District Court or Nevada Supreme Court -- where he will argue that the city had no jurisdiction to create the ethics ordinance.

Even if the case heads to trial, Wright said he will win the case, saying he doubts if the judge can find beyond a reasonable doubt that Mack knowingly violated the ethics code.

The case took a turn earlier this month when Brown called an emergency hearing to air rumors that Mack had been boasting his case would be dismissed because he had a personal relationship with the judge.

Mack has disputed the allegations.