WORLD FAMOUS BURRO
RACES & OCTOBER FEST 1997
Denture Reline And Repair
A Question of libel
I tern 10- A on the October 7,1997 Nye County Co mmission meeting
agenda is a resolution requesting the attorney general of the state of
Nevada to decide whether or not a complaint of criminal libel against the
Pahrump Valley Gazette (PVG) filed by Nye County Manager, l.es
Bradshaw, and his assistant, Rachel Nicholson, has merit and should be
pursued. The best guess, as deadline approaches for this column, is that
the commission will approve the resolution. The tangled web of Nye
County politics would make any other outcome unlikely.
However, even in a best case scenario, the charge of criminal libel
is an extremely difficult thing to prove and Bradshaw and Nicholson's
complaint hardly represents a best case.
The issue at hand goes back to October 10, 1996 when the PVG
published an article that stated that Bradshaw and Nicholson had been
disbarred from practicing before the U.S. District Court for lying under
oath in a federal court case during the Brown and Woods lawsuit against
Nye County. One of the writers of the article, Robert I.owes, had gotten
information from his source cross-threaded and the statement about
Bradshaw and Nicholsou's disbarment was in error. The part about their
participation in making false statements under oath to a U.S. District
Court judge about matters of utmost importance during a pending
federal court case is a matter of coua record and indisputably true.
4boa After printing the error and having it brought to its attention by a
member of the PVG's own staff, a correction of the errc was published
in the PVG's following edition which ran on Octob¢ 17, 1996.
Unsatisfied with this action, Nicholson hired orgained the assistance
of Las Vegas attorney, Peter Alpert, who had a letter hand delivered to
thePVGonJanuary 10,1997 demanding a full and eompletecorrection
be published as a lead story on page one of the next edition of the
Pahrump Valley Gazette and threatening legal action if the paper failed
to do so. On January 9, 1997 the paper received a letter demanding a
similar correction relating to I.¢s Bradshaw.
Although a ninety day deadline, as specified in Nevada Revised
Statutes 41.336-3, had expired, thus making the matter a moot question
the PVG did run an extensive lead front page story in which the matter
of the correction was again addressed.
Sometime later in 1997, exact date unknown, Bradshaw and
Nicholson filed a criminal complaint with the Nye County District
Attorney's office alleging lihel due to published reports about this matter
in the Pahmmp Valley Gazette. The report was forwarded to the Nye
County District Attorney's office. The district attorney's office con-
ducted a preliminary screening on the prosecutorial merits of the action
and conducted an evaluation as to whether a potential prosecutofial
conflict exists for the district attorney's office. '
An informed source has told the PVG that the district attorney staffs
initial investigation into Bradshaw and Nicholson's complaint found
"no merit" in the charges and that there is "basically nothing to
prosecute, they have nothing."
However, Ms. Nicholson recently filed a lawsuit against Nye
County and the Nye County District Attorney's office alleging, in pro,
refusal by the Nye County District Attorney's offi to prosecute this
matter. Due to the allegation presented in the Nicholson lawsuit, the Nye
County District Attorney's office advises that any further investigation
should be conducted by the Nevada State Attorney General's Office in
order to provide and maintain an objective analysis on the merits of
prosecution.
If this is starting to sound like something out of fairyland or a grade
"B" movie, there are people around who would not be surprised. One of
those people is Evan F. Acker who successfully defended herself,
without benefit of an attorney, against ten counterclaims by Nye
County, in federal court in an underlying lawsuit of one which she and
her husband, Gordon Hyde, have launched against Nye County. The
upcoming lawsuit is of major monetary proportion and is underpiuned
by a long list of devastating losses by Nye County in federal court on
subject rnhtter that are not just pertinent to, or parallel to, but are the
exact same issues that will be decided in the Acker and Hyde lawsuit
against Nye County. If you are thinking that the county must then be in
a defenseless position in this case, you are on the fight track.
Because Acker is not an attorney the analogies she used in her
successful defense against Nye County's counterclaims include word-
ing not often found in a legal brief. Acket's reply to Nye's opposition to
counter-defendant Acket's motion for summary judgement and sanc-
tions in case no. CV-93-368- ,,
Indeed, it can safely be said that Nye's entire stratagem for two-and-
one-half years has been to paper the courts with spurious motions to
harass the counter-defendants and to multiply the cost of this action to
the counter-defendants, while wasting the time and resources for two
Federal District Courts. For the past two and one half years, Nye has
plunged all of the parties and the Federal Courts, into a nethedand of
litigation no less curious than the trial attended by Alice during her visit
to Wonderland. Nye has emulated the Majesties of Hearts by creating
their own versions of Rule 42 and demanding that this case be governed
under the Rules of the kingdom of Nye.
I I
THIS MAN'S OPINION
by Brent Mathewson
I II Ill Ill Ill Ill
on page 3 lines 21-26:
As Alice described, things just become
"Curiouser andcuriouser" in thislitigation. These
District Attorneys have now determined that
their success in having the case transferred from
California to this Court, also resulted in Nye's
divesting this Court of any jurisdiction. From a reading of Wehrmeistet's
leaex, it would appear that his message to me is that my proceeding any
fut'dler in this Court is a useless waste of my time and money, and that
of the other counter-defendants.
on page 5 lines 18-25;
In reading my letter from the Nye County District Attorney's office,
it appears that it has fallen to his counter-defendant to inform the Court
that the Nye Count y District Attorneys have decreed that any judgement
rendered by this Court would be null and void. I must confess, that to be
chosen by such an exalted legal scholar as District Altomey Arthur F.
Wehnnostet, is a heady burden for one who is not even an attorney.
However, I have been chosen to "/mmed/ate/y" bring Wehrmeister's
revelation "to the attention of the Court," and I now do so! It seems
almost biblical that one so lowly as I, who am not even a lawyer, could
be chosen as the messenger to carry this news to Chief Judge Lloyd D.
George and Magistrate Judge Lawrence R. Leavitt. Being of a suspi-
cious mind, before I was so honored, it occurred to me for a momemt that
Nye might he setting me up for the fate of the "messenger bearing bad
tidings."
Fortunatey for me, the local rules of the Court that the District
Attorney's assert is without jurisdiction to proceed with this case, has a
role that is intended to deal with just such a situation. The exercise of all
local rules is left to the discretion for each judge:
The Court upon its own motion or the motion of any party may
change, dispense with or waive any of these Local Rules if the interest
of justice so require.
On page 6 lines 10-25;
Nye argues that:
"Filed currently with, and
supplemental to Acker's Motion
is a document entitled "Declara-
tion of Evan F. Acker in Support
of Her Motion for Summary
Judgement and Statement of Un-
disputed Facts" ("Declaration").
That unnotorized (sic} declara-
an affidavit, and it con-
sists in large measure of a continu-
ation of Ackefs vituperative and
ad hominem attack upon Nye
County's attorneys," (emphasis
supplied)
This statement appem,s to have
its origin in the Kingdom of Nye
Rules of Civil Procedure. Appar-
ently 28 USC#1746 has no effi-
I
LDG(LRL) includes the follow-
ing examples:
on page 2 lines 7-18:
Thecounterclaim filedby Nye
against this counter-defendant
consists of 10 claims for relief.
For two-and.one-half years Nye's
District Attorneys have studiously
avoided any discovery that would
advise me as to the factual or legal
basis for a single one of its 10
claims.
i00#eaist is aow Available
42o372 q ££t ff I
Pahrump Valley Gazette, Thursday, October 9, 1997 19
cacy in Nye County. Nye has decreed that a declaralton field In the
F ederal Court must be "natar/zed '7 This bit of legal legerdemain must
have its origin in the same textbook that the District Attorney studiedto
develop their slrategy of defeating the jurisdiction of the Court.
Perhaps the Nye District Attorney's Office follows the example of
the Gryphon, who advised Alice that he only studied the regular course
"...the different branches of Arithmetic - Ambition, distraction, Uglifi-
cation and Derision."
On page 10 lines 4-16;
Based on some as yet unexplained theory, Nye blames me for their
failure to prevail against Forum. In so doing, they grossly misrepresent
the fact. The District Attorneys represent to this Court that:
"Following the settlement of the AHS case, one of Nye County's two
insurers, Forum Insurance, filed suit against Nye County seeking
reimbursement for the costs of defending Nye County in the AHS
matter." (emphasis supplied)
This is an absolute falsehood! The AHS settlement was at
the end of 1991 and January 1992. The Forum case was brought on July
11, 1988, more than three and one-half years eadier. The obvious
purpose of this misrepresentation is to cause this Court to believe that
their unsuccessful defense of the Forum case gave them justifwation to
not pay Browne & Woods.
On page 13 lines 27-28 and page 14 lines 1-9;
For two and one-half years, Nye's attorney have abused the pro-
cesses of this Court and the tights for the counter -defendants. Under the
shield of their perceived prosecutorial immunily they have run amok
thumbing their noses at the Courts; refusing discovery and makinKfalse
stateme..s to support their frivolous defense to the Browne & Woods
action.
For two-and-one-hatf years these District attorneys have conducted
a pattern ofptmishing the counter -defendants by libel: lander; abuse of
discover practice; and every mean and hue scheme ofharassment
they can concoct. Nye's objective is to extort the other counter.
defendants into cooperating with them in their effort to cause Browne
& Woods to withdtw their just claim for the services they have
rendered to Nye.
Reading over court documents having anything to do with the Acker
and Hyde lawsuit against Nye County gives a sense to the reason I
frequently feel as ifl have walked into a cartoon when attending a Nye
County Commission meeting. This delightful and courageous lady, and
her more than intelligent husband have fought the long fight against an
opposition with deep pockets indeed.
All Nye County taxpayers, whether in ignorance, shame, or other-
wise are footing the bill to continue the county's onslaught of this
magnificent couple.
To be a small pa of a paper being charged with libel for exposing
these troths to the public is both an honor and a privilege not taken
lightly.
That is this man's opinion.
copyright 1997 by Brent Mathewson
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