Prosecutor to fill Toy Gregory’s seat on municipal court

By Joe Schoenmann (contact)

Monday, Feb. 11, 2008 | 2 a.m.

The Las Vegas City Council’s appointment of Cynthia Leung to a temporary Municipal Court judgeship outraged several defense lawyers interviewed by the Sun.

At least one council member said similar complaints were never brought to the City Council’s attention about Leung, a 40-year-old prosecutor in the City Attorney’s Office. On the contrary, the council person said, Leung came highly touted by those in the legal system with nothing to lose or gain from her appointment.

But one question arose that might pose problems in her new job.

Leung has been a “screening attorney” for the city attorney, meaning she has been one of the attorneys responsible for deciding which complaints the office takes to court.

The potential conflicts of interest would force Judge Leung to recuse herself from any cases to which attorney Leung had signed her name.

Municipal Court Chief Judge Bert Brown said he doesn’t think Leung’s job as a screening attorney will be problematic, though. Brown said he had to recuse himself from some cases when he was elected a Municipal Court judge in 1999 because he had worked on those cases as a defense attorney.

City Attorney Brad Jerbic, Leung’s boss, said that when his office learned Leung was trying to get the judgeship, she was no longer asked to screen cases that could have ended up in her municipal courtroom.

Jerbic added that chief prosecutors have been elected or appointed to judgeships in the past, including former Clark County District Attorney Stewart Bell, now a District Court judge.

Leung is filling a seat left vacant by the January death of longtime Municipal Court Judge Toy Gregory. She will hold the position at least until an election in mid-2009.

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It was victory won with nary a cross word fired.

And it almost left northwest valley activist Lisa Mayo-Deriso in tears — of joy.

Mayo-Deriso and other concerned neighbors went before the City Council to speak against a proposed beer-and-wine-selling convenience store/fast food restaurant and car wash at Grand Teton and Durango drives.

The proposed development had everything the neighborhood didn’t want. In the middle of rows of homes, it would have created a high-traffic hub at odds with the quietude of the neighborhood. Neighbors wanted something mellower, a book store, perhaps. And aren’t they always opening a coffee shop every block or so in Las Vegas?

Those concerns were expressed to the developer almost a year ago, with the blessing of Councilman Steve Ross, whose ward included the gas/beer/wash station. Despite that strong message, the developer came back with a similar proposal — with an enlarged car wash, no less.

Sometime before Wednesday’s meeting, however, the developer got the message. Right off the bat, Ross told everyone that the developer had withdrawn all requests for permits.

A few neighbors who trekked to the meeting decided to talk anyhow. And at the end of the brief hearing, Mayo-Deriso’s voice cracked as she thanked Ross for standing by his constituents.

•••

Yee-haw! Helldorado rides again!

The city is accepting applications for entries in the Helldorado parade, a tradition that started in 1934 as a way to draw tourists to Las Vegas after completion of Hoover Dam.

The city stopped holding the parade after 1997, but Mayor Oscar Goodman resumed it in 2005.

The May 17 parade will begin at 7 p.m.

There is no entry fee for the parade. To register, go to www.lasvegasnevada.gov/helldorado or call 229-6501 for information. The deadline for parade entrants is April 17.