News briefs for Sept. 5, 2002

Thursday, Sept. 5, 2002 | 9:47 a.m.

High court rules against Mosley

For the sixth time in the last six weeks, the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that District Judge Donald Mosley was wrong when he conducted a criminal hearing with the defendant not being present.

The court Wednesday said the rights of Martin D. Hayes were violated when Mosley conducted a hearing on a complaint by Hayes that he had ineffective assistance of counsel that led to his conviction.

Hayes was not present at the hearing and no attorney was appointed to represent him at the post-conviction hearing.

The high court sent the case back to Mosley.

The court previously issued similar rulings in the petitions of people convicted of crimes who said they had inadequate representation from their attorneys. Mosley denied their petitions after conducting hearings at which the defendants were not present or represented by a lawyer.

NLV-county Yucca pact OK'd

The North Las Vegas City Council approved an interlocal contract for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository program, allowing city staff to work with Clark County.

The city will receive $5,000 for oversight activities on the plan to store 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The council approved the agreement on its consent agenda Wednesday night. The agreement allows North Las Vegas staff to be included in meetings about the repository. Clark County has a nuclear waste steering committee that oversees the proposal.

Victims of fake Web doctor sought

The U.S. attorney's office is searching for victims in an Internet fraud scheme involving a service that purported to offer telephone consultations with a licensed physician for a fee.

Louis Nomar was sentenced to 77 months in federal prison earlier this month in the Southern District of West Virginia.

Nomar advertised himself as a medical doctor on the website www.onlinephysicianservices.com, but he is not a doctor.

Victims could be spread across the country, and officials with the U.S. attorney's office are asking anyone who thinks they may have been victimized to call (800) 659-8726 by Oct. 18.

Pair indicted in pot production

Two Las Vegas men have been named in a four-count indictment alleging they grew more than 1,000 marijuana plants for seven years starting in the mid-1990s.

Gary Lynn King and Johnny Dale Vaughn are named in the indictment handed down by a federal grand jury Wednesday. Both are charged with manufacture of a controlled substance and conspiracy for allegedly growing the plants from 1994 through April 2001.