Bonaventure campaign criticized

Stephen Curran

Friday, Sept. 24, 2004 | 11:28 a.m.

A complaint filed against Justice of the Peace candidate Joe Bonaventure alleges the son of the judge in the Binion murder trial is using his prominent father's name to drum up support for his own political campaign.

Steve Miller, who more than two years ago filed a complaint against District Judge Joseph Bonaventure saying he took sides in the high-profile Binion case by signing copies of a true-crime book chronicling the case, filed a complaint against his son, Joe Bonaventure, a former Clark County prosecutor and candidate for Justice of the Peace in District 9.

The book, "Murder in Sin City," was written by Las Vegas Sun columnist Jeff German.

In his complaint to state Attorney General Brian Sandoval against the younger Bonaventure, Miller claims Bonaventure failed to adequately differentiate himself from his high-profile father in campaign literature and on his Web site.

Meanwhile the younger Bonaventure said his name is different from his father, who is referred to as "Joseph," and that his literature adequately spells out how his biography is different from his father's.

Tom Sargent, a spokesman for the attorney general, said the office had received Miller's complaint but would not comment on the allegations.

Miller said he believes the failure is a deliberate attempt to deceive voters and violates a Nevada statute governing the candidates who have the same or similar names.

"I'm seeing a pattern of arrogance by this family," he said. "His (Judge Bonaventure's) son appears to be ignoring the NRS under the umbrella of his dad."

The younger Bonaventure, a former Clark County prosecutor now in private practice, does not include a biography or a photograph of himself on his Web site or on signs and other advertisements, which Miller claims could lead voters to confuse him with his father.

Bonaventure, 28, said that references to his degree from the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and being a "lifelong Nevadan" distinguish him from his father. The Boyd law school was founded in 2001, long after the elder Bonaventure -- a native New Yorker -- started practicing.