From opposite sides of the court

Sam Skolnik

Monday, May 7, 2007 | 7:14 a.m.

At first glance, the runoff race for the open Las Vegas Municipal Court seat between deputy public defender Lynn Avants and former prosecutor Martin Hastings is not terribly interesting.

They're both 40-ish white guys promising "tough on crime" agendas. Both grew up in Nevada, graduated from UNR and then attended law school in California. They even won close to the same number of votes in the congested April 3 primary. Avants won 22 percent of the vote, Hastings 20 percent.

But the candidates for the Department 6 judgeship - early voting starts May 19 and the election is June 5 - say that's where the similarities end.

Hastings, 43, stresses that he's had a wide range of legal experience, from a clerkship with a local District judge, to a two-year stint as a prosecutor with the Las Vegas city attorney's office, to a 14-year stint as a solo practitioner representing criminal defendants, including indigents too poor to hire an attorney.

That practice closed shop earlier this week, he said, so he could dedicate the next few weeks solely to the campaign.

Hastings, who graduated from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1989, said he and his family know what it's like to be victims of crime - and that he'd bring that knowledge to the bench if elected.

Hastings' father was killed by a repeat drunken driver in 1995. More recently, his mother was kidnapped during a home-invasion robbery by the family gardener. His own home also has been broken into.

But Hastings is quick to note that defendants need to be treated impartially. "The most important thing for a judge is to be fair," he said.

Toward that end Hastings, along with Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge Cedric Kern, helped create HOPE Court, or Habitual Offender Prevention and Education, an alternative approach to sentencing that offers repeat offenders - including drunken drivers, drug users and panhandlers - structured programs to try to help them rebuild their lives.

In contrast to Hastings' mostly private-practice career, Avants, 37, has worked his whole professional career as a Clark County public defender, and has also argued a case before the Nevada Supreme Court.

The Bishop Gorman High School grad says his desire to serve the public is what drives him to run.

"I've dedicated my life to community service," Avants said. "It's something I've always wanted to do."

Avants estimates that since being hired by the public defender's office in 1998, two years after graduating from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles, he has handled 5,000 to 6,000 cases.

Avants, whose father, Beecher Avants, served as chief of Metro Police's robbery-homicide division, said his tenure with the public defender wouldn't make it more difficult for him to come down tough on hardened criminals.

"Every defendant deserves the best possible defense," he said. "But that doesn't mean that I'm not cognizant of the effect crime has on citizens of this community."

Of the two, Hastings appears to be in better financial shape. He says he has raised and spent about $120,000 . According to the single campaign finance report he filed with the city in late March, Hastings raised more than $70,000 between Jan. 1 and March 22. The additional $50,000 has been raised since then, he said.

Hastings says he has given $22,500 of his own money to his campaign. He said he hopes to build a campaign budget of $200,000 before election day.

By comparison, Avants raised almost $75,000 from late last year through March 22, according to campaign reports. He said he hopes to raise a total of $125,000 .

More than one-third of Avants' $75,000 has come from executives with the master plan development company Focus Property Group and others affiliated with the company.

Campaign contribution reports show that at least seven Focus executives, and a few others connected to the company, made donations to Avants ranging from $1,500 to $5,000. Their contributions totaled $26,500.

Avants says there is an easy explanation: Focus' executive vice president, Vince Schettler, is one of his best friends stemming all the way back to their days at Bishop Gorman. Schettler, who gave Avants $5,000, helped convince his colleagues to contribute, Avants said.

Schettler, who is serving on Avants' campaign, confirmed his account. Municipal judges typically handle the smallest types of cases, including misdemeanors, traffic violations and some small civil cases. There are six such judges in Las Vegas.

On May 17 the Nevada Voters League will sponsor what may be the only public debate between Avants and Hastings. It will be held at the West Las Vegas Arts Center.