Friday, March 3, 2006 | 10:42 a.m.
A year ago David Panko tried to warn District Judge Michelle Leavitt.
Panko wanted Leavitt to know that her daughter was being molested - basing the claim on a tip from "Jesus and the angels," which he confirmed in a delusional conversation with the child.
So he wrote a cryptic note to the judge, asking who was molesting the girl and saying the abuse must stop. He then followed up with a phone call asking Leavitt's secretary if she had received the note.
Leavitt had. And she promptly turned the note over to Metro Police detectives who were in her court attending a trial.
On Monday a justice of the peace ruled there was enough evidence to send Panko to trial on charges of malicious prosecution, a felony, and criminal libel, a gross misdemeanor. Prosecutor David Stanton said "there are enough facts in this case to warrant a legitimate concern to go forward and prosecute Mr. Panko."
Stanton said the facts that Panko is an 11-time ex-felon, mostly stemming from burglary convictions, and has a mental health history show this "case has to be taken seriously."
Both Stanton and Public Defender Phil Kohn agree on the basic outline of the facts. There is no evidence that Leavitt's daughter was abused or that she ever had a conversation with Panko.
But Kohn said he was "very troubled" by the case and questioned the charges.
"I have been practicing law for 27 years, and I didn't know libel was a criminal act," Kohn said. "I learned in law school many years ago that libel is a civil action. My client didn't publish this letter in a newspaper or on a sign, but in a note to the judge."
And malicious prosecution requires that the accused know the claim he is making is untrue, Kohn said. He noted that Panko didn't complain to the authorities or the media, but pushed a note under a door.
"This all allegedly came to him in visions, and this case clearly should have been handled in Mental Health Court or in a mental health setting and not by means of a criminal prosecution," Kohn said.
The prosecutor defended filing a criminal libel charge, saying while "I don't know Phil Kohn, if he doesn't think it's a crime, then he should look at Nevada's Revised Statutes."
The key to the case, according to the prosecution, is that police found a newspaper clipping from the funeral of Leavitt's father, late District Judge Myron Leavitt. The clipping contained a photo of Leavitt and other family members grieving.
Attached to the clipping detectives found a letter believed to be written by Panko that said he wanted to have Leavitt "present her body to him in her flesh."
Stanton said that "speaks to the intent, desire and plan to potentially harm the judge or a member of her family."
He said if police and prosecutors failed to act, "one could only imagine the worst case scenario that could unfold."
Panko is also facing a misdemeanor charge of stalking that will be heard later.
Leavitt said that while she believed the canons of judicial ethics prevented her from discussing the charges in the case, as a mother and alleged victim in the case she did discuss the case.
"I called the police and did what I feel every parent should do in a situation such as this," Leavitt said. "I take being a mother and the safety of my children seriously, and I don't feel I did anything inappropriate by notifying the police or have received any special treatment from the authorities."
Panko, 45, spent much of the last year at Lake's Crossing, the state's mental hospital in Sparks, to address delusions and paranoia he was believed to be experiencing.
He believed that he was living during the 1400s and was present when, he told authorities, Mormons burned Joan of Arc at the stake. Panko told the doctors these events have continued to affect him throughout his life.
The day after the judge received Panko's note, Panko told police that Leavitt's ex-husband came to his home with a gun and kicked and beat him. Police have not charged the ex-husband, and a prosecutor would not comment on that part of the case.
Kohn says he has "reason to believe from our client's statements" that the ex-husband "went over to our client's house brandishing a gun and kicked him."
Leavitt's ex-husband could not be reached for comment. He was not called as a witness at the preliminary hearing and did not appear at the hearing.
Kohn said he will seek to have the district attorney's office removed from the case and will ask for a special prosecutor or the state attorney general's office take over because the local prosecutor's office is in Leavitt's courtroom regularly.
Matt Pordum can be reached at 474-7406 or at [email protected].
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