Monday, Sept. 13, 2004 | 8:18 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Former Clark County District Judge Jeffrey Sobel says his joking nature is how he got into trouble with the state Commission on Judicial Discipline, which has filed a complaint accusing him of trying to shake down lawyers into contributing to his unsuccessful re-election campaign in 2002.
The complaint submitted by Special Prosecutor Mary E. Boetsch accuses Sobel of three counts of misconduct in dealing with political contributions.
Sobel said Friday he never tried to pressure any lawyers to contribute to his campaign. He said he did not want to end his "unblemished career" in disgrace because of a joke and exercising his rights to talk to lawyers.
Sobel has 20 days to formally answer the complaint, after which the commission would hold a public hearing.
If found guilty, Sobel could be fined or ordered never to run for a judicial office. At age 60, Sobel said he has no intentions of seeking another elective office.
This investigation by the commission began in March 2003, Sobel said.
The charge said Sobel met in his office in April 2002 with three lawyers involved in a case. Attorneys Vince Consul and James Silvestri had both contributed to his campaign. When they came into the office the judge said they were both OK because of their donations.
But the third attorney, Ted Boyack, had not contributed. Sobel, according to the charge, indicated with an expletive to describe Boyack because he had not made a contribution.
Sobel, now in the private mediation business, said those remarks were made in a joking way and that the attorneys laughed at the comments.
"I was totally kidding," he said.
He said he has been told in the past that his "big mouth" and humor would get him into trouble. And he has since written letters of apology to the attorneys who attended the meeting, he said.
During the same meeting, the complaint says, Sobel expressed frustration that Jackie Glass was running against him. He asked Consul to confirm that he was one of four lawyers who attended a fund-raiser for Glass. The judge was making a written list of lawyers who had gone to the Glass function, the complaint said.
But Sobel said, "It was like a game, putting him (Consul) in a position where he was embarrassed." He said he may have written down the names but did nothing to violate the judicial canons.
The third count says attorney Robert Murdock gave $500 to Sobel and $3,500 to Glass' campaign. When Sobel learned about this, he tried unsuccessfully to call Murdock, who did not return his calls. He then faxed Murdock a letter on Sept. 10, 2002, asking why he had given such a large donation to Glass.
The count says Sobel said in the letter, "thirty five hundred dollars buys a lot of important stuff" and that you "would have been and would continue to be so grateful for such a large contribution."
Sobel said he wrote the letter and asked Murdock why he gave such a large amount to Glass and questioned if he had done anything wrong.
"This was a simple request to why he gave her 10 times more than me," the former judge said.
Sobel said he did not know at that point if Murdock had any cases before him.
Murdock, according to the complaint, replied to the judge, saying he was offended by Sobel's letter. He asked Sobel to bow out of future cases in which Murdock had a client.
Sobel then wrote Murdock back still seeking an answer why Murdock had contributed so much to Glass and only $500 to him. But Sobel indicated he would recuse himself from future cases in which Murdock represented one of the parties.
Sobel said he found out that Murdock was a neighbor of Glass and that he would have recused himself in any case because Murdock gave such a large contribution to Glass.
Sobel said the "important stuff" in the letter referred to such things as television advertisements or other costs. He said there was never any intent to pressure Murdock or to imply that he would get favored treatment if he gave a large donation.
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