Augustine proceedings will be open to public

Thursday, Nov. 4, 2004 | 11:08 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The impeachment of Nevada Controller Kathy Augustine is set to start Nov. 10, and it will be open to the public and will be teleconferenced to Las Vegas, legislators said Wednesday.

Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, chairman of the Legislative Commission, said there will be no closed sessions for the impeachment because "we're trying to err on the side of sunshine."

But, he added, senators will be prohibited from talking to the public or reporters about the case during the potential trial in the Senate. That's because the Senate in effect serves as a district court jury, and as such its members are prohibited from talking about the case.

One way the Senate's role will be very different from that of a district court jury is that even the Senate's deliberations about Augustine's case will be public.

Augustine lawyer Dominic Gentile of Las Vegas said he wants the proceedings open to the public. There will be a lot more information presented than has been made public up to now, he said.

Gentile said he has been told this could turn political but he has " reason to believe it won't." He said if the process is fair, "I can't lose."

Gov. Kenny Guinn said he would issue his proclamation either Friday or Monday calling the legislators into special session. That proclamation will trigger a prohibition on legislators' collection of donations, and that is widely believed to be the reason the proclamation is being put off until the last possible minute.

Guinn said he has yet to formally set the date because there "are still some things to work out" with legislators.

John Arrascada, another lawyer whom Augustine has hired, said he assumed the Legislature would follow the state's Open Meeting law in holding the impeachment proceedings, and that will require public posting of the agenda at least 72 hours prior to the meeting.

Arrascada also said, "No one knows the process. It is vague. There is no clear procedure established."

Townsend agreed, saying, "We are plowing new ground" because this is the first time the state has conducted an impeachment.

The Legislature is ready to convene in special session on Nov. 10 to hear the case against Augustine, officials said. She is accused of using her state staff to work on her re-election campaign in 2002 on state time.

Augustine was fined $15,000 by the state Ethics Commission after she admitted she should have known that her staff was doing campaign work on state time. She maintains however that they were doing volunteer work and that she told them to do the work on their own time.

The maximum penalty would be removal from the $80,000 a year job. Augustine is in her second term.

After convening, the Legislature will pass a bill to pay for the cost of the session, expected to run anywhere from $150,000 to $200,000. That should take less than two hours and then the Senate will return home.

Gerald Gardner, chief of the criminal division in the attorney general's office and Senior Deputy Attorney General Conrad Hafen will then start presenting evidence to the Assembly that must determine whether there is sufficient cause for Augustine to be impeached or charged.

The attorney general's office brought the complaint to the ethics commission against Augustine.

If the Assembly, controlled by Democrats 26-16, finds there is enough evidence to impeach the Republican controller, than it delivers its finding to the Senate. If it doesn't find enough evidence, than it adjourns and the special session is ended.

Assembly members will not be precluded from talking to the public or reporters about the case, as will be the Senate, said Townsend.

He said if there is enough evidence, the Senate will come back during the week of Nov. 15-19 to receive the indictment. Guinn must name a temporary replacement for Augustine if she is impeached, and that nominee would need Senate ratification to take office.

Augustine and her lawyers must be given at least 10 days to prepare a case. "That takes us to Nov. 29," Townsend said. The schedule, he said, indicates there will be a pretrial conference between the attorney general and defense lawyers on Dec. 3 and the trial would start Dec. 6.

There is limited public seating in the Senate chambers. Townsend said the Senate may move to the its hearing room, which has more space for the public.

Still to be decided in the Senate is whether members will be able to ask questions of witnesses or will they have to submit their written inquiries through the presiding officer who has not been chosen.

If Augustine is found guilty, the Legislature can choose to bill her for about half the cost of the special session, officials have said.

Arrascada said he may challenge that.

"I will have to see the proposal," said Arrascada.

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