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May. 21, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Assemblywoman charged with stabbing husband in arm

By MOLLY BALL and ANTONIO PLANAS
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Francis Allen
Las Vegas lawmaker faces felony charge with potential penalty of two to 10 years

Assemblywoman Francis Allen was arrested Saturday and faces a felony charge on allegations that she stabbed her husband in the arm with a steak knife, according to a police report on the incident.

Allen, R-Las Vegas, is charged with battery domestic violence with use of a deadly weapon, a felony carrying a potential penalty of two to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. No court date has been scheduled.

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    • Allen's husband of a month and a half, Paul Maineri, initially told police Allen stabbed him in the left forearm during an argument. He drove to Summerlin Hospital, where the wound required three stitches, according to the report.

    Allen, 30, told police Maineri's wound was self-inflicted. Maineri subsequently told police that the stabbing was accidental and that he would recant his version of events to keep his wife from being arrested.

    Allen was booked into the Clark County Detention Center upon being arrested, then released just before midnight Saturday after serving the mandatory 12 hours for a domestic violence charge and posting $3,000 bail, according to an official at the Clark County Detention Center who did not give her name.

    District Attorney David Roger said his office was going forward with the charge.

    "We look at all the facts and circumstances before deciding how to proceed with the case," he said.

    Allen did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday.

    In a statement, her lawyer, Richard A. Wright, said, "Francis Allen denies the allegations set forth in the criminal complaint filed today. At the appropriate time, the true facts will become known and she will be exonerated."

    A two-term member of the Assembly, Allen last week filed her candidacy seeking a third term. Three other Republicans, a Democrat, a Libertarian and a member of the Independent American Party are running in Assembly District 4, located in the far northwestern valley.

    According to the police report, police first interviewed Maineri at the hospital about 4 a.m. Saturday. He told them the couple had entertained friends at their home Friday night until about midnight.

    After the company left, "they argued because she said that he had embarrassed her in front of their friends," according to the report.

    "While arguing on the couch, Allen began pushing his forehead and caused a small scratch on his forehead with her wedding ring. They continued to argue and went into the kitchen. As the argument escalated he said he got very close to Allen and she then took a steak knife from the butcher's block with her right hand and stabbed him one time in the left forearm," the report states.

    Allen locked herself in the bedroom, but Maineri forced his way in and asked her for help. "She refused and told him to call his mother," according to the report.

    Allen then left the condo and Maineri drove to the hospital, taking with him the knife from the stabbing in a clear plastic bag, according to the report.

    Allen told police Maineri had cut himself.

    Upon being contacted by detectives, Maineri said Allen had only accidentally stabbed him. "Maineri was adamant that he did not want to get her in trouble and that he had been to jail and jail is a very bad place," according to the report.

    "After finding out that Allen was going to be arrested," the report states, Maineri "said that he wanted to recant his story and give a taped statement now in which he would say that he stabbed himself if it would keep her from getting arrested."

    The arrest is only the latest brush with controversy for Allen. Last month, Allen was the subject of an ethics complaint after she stopped payment on a check for more than $5,000 for flower arrangements at her wedding.

    The florist, Cynthia Calhoun, said Allen expected vendors to provide free services at the wedding because of her position as a legislator. Allen said that the accusations were false and that she did not pay for the flowers because they were unsatisfactory.

    Review-Journal writer David Kihara contributed to this report. Contact reporter Molly Ball at mball@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919.

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    Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.

    Reasely wrote on May 27, 2008 01:23 PM: Knock, Knock. Francis Allen is at your door to solicit your vote. What do you do?

    a. Call 911
    b. Pretend to be asleep
    c. Look out from behind your door to make sure she doesn't have a knife
    d. Tell her you voted early
    e. Tell her you would prefer to vote for her husband


    Facts wrote on May 27, 2008 01:18 PM: TJ: Get your facts straight. I dare you to sight one credible source that states women batter men at the same rate and men do so to women. Yes, women most definitely batter men, and the crime is greatly under-reported, but statistics show violent crime is most often commited by men. Just look at our jails. And don't embarrass yourself by putting Francis "Slasher" Allen in the same category as Sen. Clinton. President Bill Clinton has never been sent to the hospital for stitches at the hands of Hillary.


    TJ wrote on May 25, 2008 11:54 PM: A Repub may have done this deed, but it was the Demon-cats that introduced and passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) by denying men's groups the opportunity to present all the evidence that women battered men as often as the converse. Oh, and Hillary Rodham Clinton is also widely believed to be a batterer.


    strey wrote on May 23, 2008 03:45 PM: I propose the following Francis Allen campaign slogans.

    "I will slash your taxes and my husband."

    "My husband's not voting for me, but you should."

    "Francis Allen knows how to cut the fat out of government and her husband."

    "Don't Make Me Mad!"

    "My probation officer says I can travel to Carson City; Vote for me."

    "Kathy Augistine's former husband has nothing on me."

    "I teach anger management."

    "I will serve the community; the judge says I have to any way."

    "Francis Allen: Cutting the waste out of government and the flesh out of her husband's arm."

    "OJ is my running mate."


    Whateva wrote on May 23, 2008 03:32 PM: Considering Francis Allen and her stitched-up husband, the late Kathy Augustine and her murderous hubby, and the three-ring circus at the Governor's mansion, I would think Republicans might just want to shut up about the same-sex marriage. Clearly, being a Republican does not make you an expert on marriage, morality, or family values.


    Rob wrote on May 23, 2008 10:06 AM: The Nevada Republican family values torch has been passed from Kathy Augustine to Francis Allen.


    Condi'sLesianHousemate wrote on May 22, 2008 03:06 PM: Why are rethuglicans so crazy? She has a Loraina Bobbit tattoo on her left shoulder.


    heetome2 wrote on May 22, 2008 08:25 AM: more republican family values!


    destafano wrote on May 21, 2008 06:03 PM: Didn't former GOP county chairman John Hambrick recruit Ms. Francis Allen?


    PuffPuffPass wrote on May 21, 2008 04:20 PM: She looks stoned out of her gourd!


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