Federal suit against judge to be tossed

Jace Radke

Thursday, Jan. 15, 2004 | 11:14 a.m.

U.S. District Judge Robert Jones will dismiss a federal class-action lawsuit that alleged Clark County District Judge Donald Mosley violated hundreds of defendants' civil rights, according to court documents.

The lawsuit focuses on the case of Jeanette Faye Sadoski, who alleges that Mosley violated her civil rights by toughening her sentence and exposing her to double jeopardy.

Motions to dismiss the suit by lawyers with the Nevada attorney general's office and the Clark County district attorney's office will be granted according to the minutes of a Jan. 5 hearing before Jones.

The court document states that Jones took the matter as submitted and would issue a written order in the case, but adds that the court "will grant the motions to dismiss."

Jones has yet to issue a written order in the case, according to filings at the federal court clerk's office.

Sadoski's attorney, Clark Garen, said he plans to appeal any dismissal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

"I always thought that is where this case was going to end up, and I'm hopeful that the appeals court will grant the needed relief," Garen said.

Mosley, who has served on the bench for more than 23 years, said he would not comment on the case until Jones issues his order.

The suit calls for Mosley to review all of his criminal cases to determine if he illegally resentenced any defendants, and asks that he be prohibited from resentencing defendants without an order from a federal judge.

Sadoski alleges that Mosley changed her sentence for theft from a misdemeanor to a felony after another charge came to light. Nevada law specifically allows a judge to reduce sentences but does not address lengthening them.

Garen has alleged that there could potentially be hundreds of people who were illegally sentenced by Mosley.

Other defendants in the suit, which was filed in October, include former District Attorney Stewart Bell, District Attorney David Roger and Nevada Department of Corrections Director Jackie Crawford.

The motions to dismiss argued that Mosley is entitled to judicial immunity from the suit, and that anyone who is following his orders also has that immunity.

The suit stems from a June 2000 guilty plea by Sadoski to a $6,000 theft from a Las Vegas store where she worked, Garen said.

Mosley originally gave Sadoski a suspended sentence of one year for the gross misdemeanor. But between the time that Sadoski gave her plea and the time she was sentenced she was arrested on a drug trafficking charge, according to documents filed by the District Attorney's office.

Mosley found out about the drug charge after he had sentenced Sadoski. That prompted him to resentence her to 32 months in prison with minimum parole eligibility of 12 months. In July 2002 Sadoski was paroled on the drug charge, but remained under house arrest on the theft charge, which ran concurrent to the drug charge.

In June the Nevada Supreme Court reversed the resentencing, and in July Mosley reinstated the original sentence, causing Sadoski to be released.