High court told Mosley fine wrong

Thursday, Nov. 13, 2003 | 11:29 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- An attorney for District Judge Donald Mosley said Wednesday the state Judicial Discipline Commission did not give due process rights to the judge when it found he had violated the judicial code and fined him $5,000.

Dominic Gentile, Mosley's lawyer, told the Nevada Supreme Court the Discipline Commission created its "greatest error" when it denied him the right to present an expert witness to testify at the commission's public hearing.

But Mary Boetsch, special prosecutor for the Discipline Commission, urged the court to uphold the findings that Mosley conducted improper ex-parte hearings and used his office for his personal benefit.

Justice Mark Gibbons said it would have been better to allow the expert witness to testify. The commission could have allowed it and then assigned what weight it wanted to, he said.

Justice Bob Rose indicated he thought Mosley acted improperly in holding two meetings that involved his custody fight with his child's mother, Terry Mosley.

Donald Mosley met with Las Vegas attorney Catherine Woolfe, who represented Joe McLaughlin, who had pleaded guilty to a felony and was awaiting sentencing. McLaughlin said he been living with Terry Mosley and that she was not a good parent to the child.

They met a second time in the office of Mosley's lawyer, Carl Lovell, to discuss the custody case. McLaughlin signed statements for Mosley used in the custody battle. Mosley did not recuse himself from the McLaughlin case until Oct. 10, 1997, the first day of the custody hearing.

Mosley also held a private meeting with his longtime friend Barbara Orcutt, an attorney, who asked that her employee and friend Robert D'Amose be freed from jail, where he was being held on a charge of theft. Orcutt told the judge D'Amose was ill.

Mosley determined D'Amose would not be a threat to the community and asked District Judge John McGroarty, who had the case, about the release, McGroarty said he had no objections but suggested Mosley check with the district attorney's office first.

Mosley did not contact either the district attorney's office or the defense lawyer before he released D'Amose on his own recognizance.

Meanwhile, a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges Donald Mosley manipulated the judicial process during the custody dispute.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by Terry Mosley, alleges Judge Mosley agreed with the judge hearing the custody case, Judge Robert Estes of Churchill County, to deny Terry Mosley her parental rights and her right to due process.