Elizabeth Halverson

From Judgepedia

Elizabeth Halverson was a judge for Nevada's 8th Judicial District Court. She was suspended in the fall of 2007 by the Court's Chief Judge Kathy Hardcastle based upon allegations of professional misconduct. In September of 2008, Halverson was indefinitely suspended by the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline after a two week long hearing. In December of 2009, she was found guilty of defaming her former judicial assistant Ileen Spoor, and ordered to pay her $50,000. In January 2011, the Nevada Supreme Court permanently barred Halverson from ever serving as a judge again. ^{[1] [2]}

Biography

In 1975, Halverson entered the University of California at Davis. She graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor's Degree in History and Political Science/Public Service. At the age of nineteen, Halverson was accepted to the University of Southern California Law Center, and graduated in 1980 with a Juris Doctor.^[3]

Legal education and experience

After a year of private practice, Halverson decided to work for the federal government. Later, after being offered a position with the UFCW, she went to work for a Labor Union where she worked on negotiating the Collective Bargaining Agreement, processed grievances, and represented workers at arbitration and before the National Labor Relations Board, the EEOC and the California Department of Fair employment and Housing. After leaving that position, Elizabeth went back to work with the Federal Government.

In 1992, Halverson passed the Nevada Bar Exam and was sworn in as a Nevada Lawyer in December of 1992 in Reno. In 1995, Halverson became a Law Clerk in the Eighth Judicial District and spent nine years assisting judges with administering their calendars and writing legal opinion letters and Supreme Court petitions on behalf of the Eighth Judicial District. Since November 2004, Elizabeth has practiced civil and family law at her own firm, the Halverson Law Firm.^[4]

Awards and Associations

• Asian Chamber of Commerce
• Clark County Bar Association
• Catholic Daughters of the Americas- Court of Our Lady of the Rosary No. 2226
• IBEW Local 357 "wife"
• Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce
• Latin Chamber of Commerce
• League of Women Voters
• NAACP
• NAWBO- National Organization of Women Business Owners
• Seniors United
• State Bar of Nevada
• State Bar of California
• St. Viator's Italian Catholic Club
• Trial by Peers, Juvenile Justice Diversion Program
• Urban Chamber of Commerce
• Women's Chamber of Commerce

In the News: Articles

Halverson Suspended

Hardcastle suspended Halverson, taking away her criminal caseload and barring her from entering the courthouse; Hardcastle also formed a committee to evaluate Halverson's professional conduct, which had come into question during Halverson's judicial tenure. The complaints levied against Halverson at the time of her suspension were:^[5]

• that the bailiff complained judge makes him massage her feet and back;
• Judge put staff members under oath and asked them questions;
• Judge put her husband under oath to ask if the house was clean;
• Judge’s mother asked if the bailiff was her “servant”;
• Judge fell asleep during her first criminal trial;
• Judge spoke to criminal juries, outside the presence of accused and counsel for both parties which led to mistrials;
• Judge berated lawyers for not contributing to her election fund (she dismisses this on the basis that no lawyers contributed so she could not be discriminating against any individuals);
• Judge would call staffer “the evil one,” “bitch,” “the elf,” and “the Antichrist”; and
• Judge fired her assistant Ileen Spooner, which resulted in a defamation suit against the judge.

Halverson Banned from Courthouse (May 11, 2007)

The District Court chief judge on Thursday banned District Judge Elizabeth Halverson from the county courthouse. In an administrative order, Chief Judge Kathy Hardcastle said Halverson jeopardized security at the courthouse this week by bringing her own two bodyguards into the courthouse and allowing them to bypass security checks.

"Judge Halverson's actions in utilizing unauthorized and unknown bodyguards constitute a breach of courthouse security, which creates a potential danger to the judges, the public and the occupants of the Regional Justice Center," Hardcastle wrote.

On Thursday, Presiding Judges Stewart Bell, Art Ritchie and Betsy Gonzalez recommended to Hardcastle that she bar Halverson from the bench until Halverson agrees to meet with them and "provide assurances that her disruptive behavior and threats to courthouse security will no longer continue," according to the administrative order Hardcastle signed.^[6]

On the first day of hearings, former bailiff Johnnie Jordan who was the accuser faced Halverson in what was billed as some very emotional testimony. During the testimony, Jordan said "I can't stand what she did to me! My question is why?" Jordan shouted at Halverson and the seven members of the Judicial Discipline Commission. "What's it say about America? What's it say about the president of the United States? If you guys allow her to be in office after all this, what does this say about all you? This is bull crap!".^[7]

Jordan testified at length on the first day about how she made him rub her feet and neck and wrapped her arm around him when he chauffeured her to judges' meetings. Jordan described Halverson as a paranoid judge and said she ordered him to spy on other judges and court staff. The most striking testimony Monday came from Jordan, who worked as Halverson's bailiff for several months in 2007. He said Halverson asked him to do "demeaning" tasks, such as picking the lint off her judicial robes with scotch tape each day and asking him get on his knees and slip on her shoes. He also said Halverson asked him to heat her lunch using a microwave that was kept inside a bathroom. Jordan said Halverson ordered him to heat her food immediately after she used the bathroom. Jordan also said that he often heard Halverson screaming at and berating her husband on the telephone or in person when he visited the courthouse. Halverson said to her husband, "I am sick of your (expletive). Why don't you do what the (expletive) I tell you," Jordan said during August 4, 2008 testimony. Jordan testified that he kept complying with Halverson's demands and didn't immediately report Halverson's behavior to superiors because he believed it was part of his job. "She was my boss. That's what I was supposed to do as a bailiff," Jordan said. Jordan also testified that Halverson asked him to shoot her husband and she told him she would dispose of his body. Jordan said he believed Halverson was serious but admitted he never reported it to police. When Halverson's co-counsel Michael Schwartz asked him why he didn't report it to authorities if he thought the request was real, Jordan replied that it wasn't in his training. Jordan eventually filed a complaint with the Clark County Office of Diversity, which investigates complaints of sexual and racial harassment. He said he had a heart attack and no longer works for the county as a bailiff. ^[7]

Halverson has maintained that she has been unfairly targeted by court staff because of long-standing animosity between her and Chief District Judge Kathy Hardcastle. Hardcastle has denied those accusations^[8]. Halverson said on August 4th, 2008 that she plans to call more than 150 witnesses to testify even though she is given only two days -- Thursday and Friday -- to present her case. She said she is also subpoenaing 63 witnesses, including 25 District Court judges, to testify. ^[7]

August 6, 2008-Halverson's Attempt to Halt the Proceedings in Federal Court

On June 6, 2008, federal judge Clyde Jones for the District of Nevada held a hearing on a motion filed earlier in the week that Halverson claimed that that Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline has not given Halverson enough time to prepare to give an meaningful testimony and also claimed some issues over constitutionality of evidence being presented during this hearing. ^[9] Scott Abbott, who represented the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline denied that the discipline hearing was timed to coincide with the primary election. ^[10]

Later in the day, Jones ruled against Halverson claiming there was not enough evidence to prove that the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline violated her due process rights. Because of her denial, the commission's hearing went on as scheduled. But, the federal judge did schedule an August 14, 2008 hearing in the Nevada Federal District Court for attorneys to present arguments on a preliminary injunction. If granted, it would stop the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline from enforcing any punishment against Halverson, including permanently removing her from the bench, her attorneys said. ^[10]

As day three of testimony in the Nevada hearing continued, John Lukens a defense attorney in Las Vegas testified that he saw Halverson slumped forward and sleeping during a case he had before her. Lukens said he didn't want to wake Halverson because "you don't want to embarrass a judge publicly in a courtroom."^[10] But another lawyer in the same case, Jeff Braun, testified that he never saw Halverson asleep on the bench. "There was nothing out of the ordinary," Braun said. District Judge Stewart Bell also testified during day 3 of Testimony that in 2007, he and other court staff were asked to look into complaints brought against Halverson by her staff, including assertions that she created a hostile work environment. Bell also said he was told that certain judicial orders submitted by attorneys disappeared from Halverson's court. Bell did not disclose who told him about the issue. Bell said he was told that the missing orders were from attorneys who were disliked by Halverson or who hadn't contributed to Halverson's campaign. "It was very disturbing to us," Bell said. ^[10]

August 7, 2008-Halverson Testifies to Defend, Court Staff Tells Another Story

August 7th provided an interesting flurry of events during day four of Elizabeth Halverson's hearing. First, former court staff in the Nevada 8th District Circuit Court testified before Halverson took the witness stand in her own defense.

Halverson testified to refute against former bailiff Johnnie Jordan by telling the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline that her former bailiff, Johnnie Jordan, "was a devoted employee who didn't want to leave her side, voluntarily tried to massage her and happily put her slippers on her feet."^[11] Halverson also refuted Jordan's claims during his testimony earlier in the week stating: "it got to the point where I had to tell Jordan to stop being so dutiful."^[11] Halverson also defended against King's emotional testimony on August 4, 2008 by saying: "He tried to insist on putting them (slippers) on and off. We had fight after fight after fight about them because I told him repeatedly, 'I don't need you to put them on and off,'" stated Halverson. ^[11]

Spoor, who testified Thursday, was cross-examined by Schwartz for allegedly fixing traffic tickets while working for Halverson. The accusation stems from a file marked "quick fix" that Spoor kept in the office. The file had copies of dozens of traffic tickets from people who gave them to Spoor for help. ^[11]

Spoor testified that she did nothing wrong. She said she merely gave the tickets to lawyers, who then handled them through the justice court or municipal court system. Spoor defended further claiming it was common practice among judicial executive assistants of district judges to refer tickets to attorneys even though traffic citations aren't handled in District Court. They are handled in justice and municipal courts. She described referring tickets to attorneys as "standard operating procedure" in the Nevada 8th District Circuit Court. ^[11]

In May 2007, Spoor filed a defamation suit against Halverson after the judge accused her of fixing traffic tickets illegally. Schwartz said the conflict between Spoor and Halverson escalated when Halverson discovered that Spoor was referring the tickets to lawyers. Schwartz (the attorney for Halverson) questioned Spoor during here testimony, who still works as a judicial executive assistant in the Nevada 8th District Circuit Court why she would refer traffic tickets to attorneys when it wasn't part of her job as Halverson's assistant. ^[11]

Spoor said she did this work on her own time during breaks. In one instance, Spoor faxed the ticket information to an unknown party using letterhead from Halverson's office, according to case evidence. Michael Schwartz, Halverson's defense attorney said to the media after Thursday's proceedings that Halverson essentially tried to blow the whistle on the ticket issue, which created a wedge between Spoor and Halverson. ^[11]

Several District Court judicial executive assistants contacted Thursday had different views on what Spoor was doing. One, who declined to be identified, agreed with Spoor that it was common for District Court judicial executive assistants to refer traffic tickets to attorneys. She said it was done as a courtesy and the assistant or judge never got any payment for doing it. Two other judicial executive assistants, one from Family Court, said they'd never heard of the practice. When the ticket issue surfaced last year, court officials reviewed Spoor's e-mail but found no evidence of illegal activity. ^[11]

Michael Sommermeyer, spokesman for the Nevada 8th District Circuit Court, said to the media after Thursday's testimony "that judicial executive assistants are allowed to refer individuals to lawyers for legal advice. Spoor's activity would fall under this category," he said. When asked why tickets would be sent to a district judge, Sommermeyer stated: "The judges are elected officials who sometimes receive tickets from their constituents." Sommermeyer further stated that: "the public is free to send traffic tickets to judges at District Court but that it's up to the judge and staff whether they want to refer it to an attorney. The practice was similar to Ticket Busters, the local legal service that advertises that it takes care of tickets." ^[11]

August 14, 2008-Halverson's Defense Team Cross-Examines Witnesses, Some Charges Dropped

After a week long recess after Judge Elizabeth Halverson had an medical condition with her diabetes that caused a delay in concluding her case with the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline, Halverson and her defense team returned as they were back to have their turn to cross-examine witnesses as from news reports before her medical episode that the Halverson defense team was intending on testifying close to 30 witnesses in her defense. During the trial the Defense team asked the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline to dismiss all 14 counts of violation of judicial canons against her. However, 3 full counts, and parts of three other counts were dismissed by the following breakdown^[12]:

• Count 1 - Dismissed
• Count 2 - Denied
• Count 3 - Denied
• Count 4 - Dismissed
• Count 5 - Denied
• Count 6 - Parts A and B Denied, Parts C, D and E Dismisssed
• Count 7 - Denied
• Count 8 - Denied
• Count 9 - Dismissed
• Count 10 - Parts A and B Denied, Part C Granted
• Count 11 - Denied
• Count 12 - Denied
• Count 13 - Denied
• Count 14 - Denied

External links

• You’re NOT the Boss of Me
• Judge Elizabeth Halverson courts trouble in Las Vegas
• Halverson's Campaign Website
• Halverson's Bio from campaign website

References