Court hopeful says consultant pitched deal - News

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Oct. 15, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Court hopeful says consultant pitched deal

Investigation looking into allegations campaign dollars offered for recusals

By ADRIENNE PACKER and SCOTT WYLAND
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Bob Rose
TV report cites documents in linking former Supreme Court jurist to case

Nevada Supreme Court justice candidate Kris Pickering said Tuesday night that she notified federal authorities after her campaign manager is alleged to have offered to funnel $200,000 into her war chest last summer if she agreed to remove herself from certain eminent domain cases.

"The proposition was wrong, I reported it and it's in the investigators' hands," said the 56-year-old candidate. "I don't play that game."

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Pickering declined to comment further.

Campaign consultant Gary Gray is alleged to have requested that Pickering sign an agreement to remove herself from Supreme Court eminent domain cases involving prominent attorney Laura Fitzsimmons. If Pickering didn't sign the document, the money would go to an opponent, Gray is alleged to have told her.

Pickering refused the offer and notified authorities.

At the time, Pickering faced three opponents: Nancy Allf, Don Chairez and Deborah Schumacher. Pickering and Schumacher advanced to the general election.

KLAS-TV, Channel 8 reported that Fitzsimmons was listed as a host for an upcoming campaign fundraiser for Schumacher.

Schumacher could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

"It's clear there's a political spin put on it," Gray told the Review-Journal Tuesday.

Gray said that investigators told him not to talk about the case. Gray also said he expects a favorable outcome when authorities get all the facts.

When Gray approached Pickering, he explained that other Supreme Court justices had signed similar agreements in the past. That prompted her to ask for evidence, according to Channel 8.

The Channel 8 report also said that Gray provided Pickering with a copy of a document signed by Supreme Court Justice Bob Rose, who stepped down from the bench in 2006.

A woman who answered the phone at Rose's Minden home Tuesday night said the former justice was unavailable for comment.

Pickering fired Gray at about the same time the investigation was launched. Gray has not been charged with any crimes.

Still, there is "absolutely an obligation to investigate" the accusations, said Nancy Rapoport, a Boyd School of Law professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

State laws are clear about protecting the integrity of the court system, Rapoport said.

"You can't do anything that makes it look like you can influence a judge," she said. "Why would anyone want to resolve a dispute in court if it's a foregone conclusion that the court is bought and paid for?"

The head of a state watchdog group said that if this maneuver isn't illegal, it should be.

"They've found a loophole in the system to do legal bribery," said Julie Tousa, acting president for the Nevada Center for Public Ethics. "It's backhanded. It's going around the law."

Instead of bribing a justice to vote a particular way -- which would be blatantly unlawful -- a candidate was offered money to not touch certain cases if she's elected, Tousa said. That could skew the system in favor of the attorney doling out the money, Tousa said, especially if another justice has agreed to remove himself from the attorney's cases.

With two justices sitting out, the attorney could win high-court cases on a 3-2 vote instead of a 4-3 vote, Tousa said.

Gray, the husband of Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, has handled his wife's campaigns and has worked for many other successful politicians. As a campaign consultant, he represents mainly Democrats.

Gray is now the campaign manager for Democratic Clark County Commission candidate Steve Sisolak. Fitzsimmons, who has made millions of dollars from successful eminent domain lawsuits, helped Sisolak win a $6.5 million judgment against the county in 2003.

Sisolak sued McCarran International Airport when the airport refused to compensate him after height restrictions diminished the value of his parcel near Las Vegas Boulevard and Warm Springs Road.

Fitzsimmons, who also has contributed heavily to Sisolak's campaign, has been vocal at the state level about eminent domain laws. In 2005, she called a Supreme Court ruling that upheld local governments' rights to seize people's property for private development "a travesty."

Late Tuesday, Sisolak said he hadn't seen or read news reports on the allegations against Gray or Fitzsimmons.

"I'm not seeing how this has anything to do with me," Sisolak said. "I'll sit down with Gary and talk with him in the next day or two."

Commissioner Tom Collins said he plans to stick with Gray for his re-election campaign, arguing that Gray's integrity is above reproach.

"Gary Gray runs the most legitimate campaigns in the state of Nevada," Collins said. "This is a presidential election. There are lots of allegations being made."

Rapoport, the law professor, said she has never encountered anything like this case.

"In my wildest dreams ... I wouldn't have come up with this one," she said. "This is so far beyond anything I'm used to in any jurisdiction I've been in. I'm stunned by the implications."

Contact reporters Adrienne Packer at apacker@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710; and Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. kona wrote on October 21, 2008 11:24 PM: nvcitizen55--I hope you are more an intelligent person than your post is presenting. The website to which you are referring is a slanderous attempt by Gary Gray, the campaign manager for Chris Garvey. I'm sure you are smart enough to figure out that the campaign ads of TV only present an ounce of truth, misleading constituents by not telling the whole story. The same can be said about the website you mentioned. Please visit teachers4change.net and see what the real issues are and hear from the man himself. You can even e-mail him any question you'd like. Go directly to the source for your information and make a truly informed decision. If after you have done this and you still feel that Mrs. Garvey is the better candidate, then at least you'll have a stronger conviction and made up your mind independent of those who try to sway you otherwise. nvcitizen55 wrote on October 17, 2008 08:10 PM: If you want to know the real truth about Ron Taylor go to www.therealrontaylor.com BatmanAndRobin wrote on October 17, 2008 07:34 PM: Garvey looks awfully "gray" with a campaign manager whose house was raided by the FBI. Vote Ron Taylor for school board B to make sure that the money filters down to a level where it can benefit the kids. http://rontaylor.info http://teachers4change.net JT wrote on October 17, 2008 09:38 AM: To "clean up the media" - this is not an example of media sleaziness at all. This is coming out weeks before the election simply because it is ABOUT an election... Pickering hired Gray during the 2008 campaign season and now we are in the closing days of the 2008 campaign season. If this didn't come out by now, I would be very worried about the media. Kudos to the media for getting this out there so the public can know who we're dealing with. Are elections being manipulated, are boards and commissions being stacked with cronies, is the NV Supreme Court being stacked to win cases? Are kickbacks from big court judgments being handed out to political friends? WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW> chscheermom wrote on October 16, 2008 02:15 PM: Why don't you mention in the article the thousands upon thousands of dollars Gibbons has received from the Laura Fitzsimmons Group? Does Gibbons sit on cases involving her law firm or does he recuse himself? Last Blog wrote on October 16, 2008 12:15 AM: Politics as usual at the RJ. Truth hurts. Good bye RJ. Wake up call wrote on October 16, 2008 12:12 AM: The Filter will kill this Forum. No wonder the Rj Readership is down. I feel like a Black Guy at Poetry. Gary Gray- What did you Say? wrote on October 15, 2008 09:30 PM: Now I know exactly why Chris Giunchigliani, our "Maverick" Commissioner (She is truly a breath of fresh air in this polluted Administration) didn't shorten her name to GRAY when she married this BAG MAN. She doesn't need that kind of baggage. Gary Gray gives a whole new meaning to the "Grey" area of "Back-handed Politics." How far are we, the Taxpayers, supposed to ignore this nonsense? Pickering spoke up at great risk to her Career, Family (and sadly)maybe her Life. These are some Heavy Players that don't take NO for an answer. This Thug, Gray, (allegedly) tried to strong arm her. Intimidate her. Coerce her. Bribe her. Doesn't this fall under the RICO ACT? He failed. Now Fitzsimmons is hosting a fund raiser for Schumacher? That should do it for Gary Gray. Anyone who attaches themselves to this "consultant" should be shunned. His record speaks for itself. hawaiianbrat96 wrote on October 15, 2008 07:32 PM: KHM: Just because the court system runs in the race as non-partisan does not essentially mean that they are not leaning towards one particular party. Almost every single person with a decent brain leans towards one way or another! As for the rest of this story: It is about time someone stands up with the ethics our court system should have and start turning people in like this idiot. Anyone who walks around like a bookie in attempt to sway people a certain way needs to be put in their place. Although it has happened since the creation of our judicial system, buying off judges is just wrong in every single way. As for Chris Garvey, who happens to be supposedly being watched over by her campaign manager GASP Gary Gray, I would hope that our voting public would have the sense to vote for Ron Taylor in District B! If you are using a campaign manager who buys off judges and others that he supposedly "helps" to achieve a seat, then that just smells and appears like corruption. Our school district cannot afford to have idiots running it. This is just another mark against Garvey because it just seems like there is no actual genuine interest to help our district rise up from the hemorrhaging mess it is in currently. Potential voters of District B: If you care about the future of our youth, the same youth who will be taking care of us, then vote for Ron Taylor. He is AN EDUCATOR! Not some PTA mom. He IS there now, not just talking about helping. Gary Gray, What did you Say? wrote on October 15, 2008 06:41 PM: To KHM, a.k.a. Chris Garvey. How bout those Cubs? Go away with your deflection attempt. Go eat some paste. Back to the issue at hand, Mr. Giunchigliani a.k.a. Gary Gray. This Ultimate Weasel gets bagged and tagged for trying to BUY a Supreme Court Candidate. BUYING A JUDGE. Then he does the "take away" by saying he'll give it to her opponent. I bet he didn't run that deal by Chairez. Then he whips out a "receipt" from Judge Rose and says, "Here, see, it's O.K. Take it. Nobody says no to me." Pickering tells him to GO FISH and calls the Feds. Priceless!!!! I bet he neede a couple of martoonies after that swing and a miss. OUCH! He should be on suicide watch. I wonder how Chris G. is taking the news that her Ex-Husband (or soon to be if she knows whats coming her way) is nothing but a "BAG MAN" for our "new mob." She needs a check up from the neck up to stay with this disposable dipstick. Collins, jumps on his horse and comes to the rescue, by saying "his integrity is above reproach." I guess our natural reaction to that should be to inquire "How much did he pay you to say that, Tommy?" Cat's out of the Bag. Pandora's out of the Box. Cream rises to the Top. Gray needs to go Away. Federal Style. I love it when the F.B.I. comes to town. It just smells better around here. R.J. Keep up the good work. In closing.. Vote Ron Taylor. Good Riddence Chris Garvey. Go D-Rays! Read All Comments