Arson indictment against Quon, Webb dismissed

District Judge Douglas Herndon on Thursday dismissed an indictment charging construction defects attorney Nancy Quon and her boyfriend, ex-police officer William Ronald Webb, in an October 2010 suspicious fire at her home.

After a 90-minute hearing, Herndon ruled that District Judge Linda Bell had abused her discretion by allowing prosecutors to move forward with the case after a previous panel had refused to file arson and insurance fraud charges.

Herndon said Bell should have gotten more detailed information from prosecutors about their intentions before allowing them to go back to a new grand jury.

"I think Linda Bell is an extraordinary judge, but I think when you receive (a request), you've got to ask for more," Herndon said.

Herndon said it looked to him that the evidence prosecutors presented to the new panel supported an arson indictment, but the process of winning permission to present it was violated.

"I can't fault the state," Herndon said. "I have to fault Judge Bell."

Bell, who oversees the grand jury process and regularly accepts indictments in court, declined comment.

Herndon acknowledged that the statute on resubmitting cases was vague, and he said he hoped his decision would be appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court to provide more legal guidance for prosecutors and judges.

An earlier grand jury case charging Quon, 51, and Webb, 43, in a drug conspiracy tied to a possible suicide scheme on Quon's part will move forward, Herndon said.

Quon, a high-profile attorney who made millions of dollars as a pioneer in the field of construction defect law, also is the target of a high-profile federal investigation into fraud and corruption at Las Vegas Valley homeowners associations.

Justice Department prosecutors from Washington, D.C., have been striking plea deals with lower-level players in the massive scheme to take over homeowners associations. The scheme involved stacking homeowners association boards with friendly members who would hand out legal work and construction defect contracts to co-conspirators.

Local police and prosecutors have contended that Quon was trying to kill herself to escape the pressure of the far-reaching federal investigation, which has targeted lawyers, judges and former police officers.

After Thursday's hearing, Chief Deputy District Attorney Sandra DiGiacomo appeared stunned with Herndon's decision, declining to comment on whether her office will appeal to the state Supreme Court.

DiGiacomo also has the option of taking the case to yet another grand jury.

Outside the courtroom, DiGiacomo huddled behind closed doors in a witness room for about 10 minutes with the lead detective in the arson case and investigators in the federal probe, all of whom were on hand for the arguments.

Quon's lawyer, Thomas Pitaro, said he was "very happy" with the ruling.

"It was the correct decision," Pitaro said. "The court recognized that there has to be limitations on the grand jury. They have to give a sufficient factual basis to resubmit a case."

Pitaro argued in court that the case against Quon was "an abusive process from the very beginning."

DiGiacomo insisted that she followed the law in her request by informing Bell that she had new witnesses and intended to present the evidence in a different manner.

Quon was originally indicted in April on a single felony count of conspiracy to violate the Uniform Controlled Substances Act. The indictment charged that Quon provided the cash for Webb, who spent 17 years with the Metropolitan Police Department, to unlawfully buy 29.2 grams of the club drug gama-hydroxybutyric acid from undercover detectives. Police contended that Quon was trying to arrange her own death with the drugs, which the couple incorrectly thought would be undetectable.

Webb also was charged with conspiracy to commit murder, but the grand jury refused to charge Webb and Quon in the fire that caused some $300,000 in damage to Quon's Rhodes Ranch home.

With Bell's permission, DiGiacomo later presented the arson evidence to a new grand jury.

That panel indicted both Quon and Webb in the arson conspiracy in August. Quon was charged with five felonies, including first-degree arson, conspiracy to commit arson and insurance fraud.

Prosecutors alleged Quon set fire to her home in a botched suicide scheme, but she has denied plotting the fire and trying to kill herself.

Contact reporter Jeff German at jgerman@review journal.com or 702-380-8135.

Trending topics:

• arson indictment
• Jeff German
• Nancy Quon
• Sandra DiGiacomo
• Thomas Pitaro
• William Ronald Webb

Comments

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

1. Throwing.Bones Jan. 7, 2012 | 3:14 p.m. Report Abuse

   Thanks Otto.
   
   Throwing.Bones wrote on January 05, 2012 05:04 PM:
   Good call, Judge Herndon! Though I would have been much more harsh in my delivery, I appreciate your stopping THIS SEGMENT of the well intended "interference" with the imminent "_ss kicking" due to arrive any day now, courtesy of DOJ MAIN. Oh wait, there may be a slight hiccup..."One defendant, David Amesbury, also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in connection with a BANK LOAN SCHEME UNCONNECTED to the HOA fraud scheme." Exactly which of Mr. Amesbury's schemes is attributable to the gift of broken ribs and shattered kneecaps? ANYWAY, Glad this portion of the dog & pony show is over. To all those wishing to stop the MASSIVE infusion of REAL justice, as opposed to the rigged, rubber-stamped, green-lighted version prescribed locally, I look forward to hearing more about the suicide attempt, the manipulated Legal 2000, the estate plan and so on. Boy, do I look forward to it!

2. Otto de Fay Jan. 6, 2012 | 3:07 p.m. Report Abuse

   Herndon's apparently got guts, and his take-down of DA Roger's outlandish prosecution/ stalling tactics against Quon is a promising start in restoring sanity and justice to these matters. With every incredible story dreamed up by Roger's office, the outraged public was NOT BUYIN' IT -- while the DA's office was merely buying time and running interference for the truly guilty "100 big fish" to strategize their defense of (their) actual criminal activities. Now that Herndon's shut this freak-show-travesty-of-justice down, let's hope the prosecutions of the big fish by the big (legit) prosecutors WILL begin. So will our local press display Herndon's guts and integrity by printing the names finally on that Big Fish List?

3. nvlawyer Jan. 6, 2012 | 11:03 a.m. Report Abuse

   Herndon is one of the best judges on the bench. Many I don't have confidence in, but Herndon is willing to make some tough choices. Good for him.

4. Dasgeiss Jan. 6, 2012 | 10:44 a.m. Report Abuse

   FINALLY...a real Judge has taken over who actually looked at the facts in this case toward a rightful decision. That Ms. Quon and Mr. Webb deliberately set fire to her house is so laughable it would give Bob Hope competition in the world of comedy. It was proven Ms. Quon is not nuts by the CC Mental Health people. One does not destroy one's house to commit suicide unless one is nuts! How many women have chosen fire as a means to commit suicide? I venture not many and those that did I am sure did not have the brains of Ms. Quon. The whole story is ludicrous; only a low grade moron would believe this and I am thinking these prosecutors and some judges down there in Vegas easily fit this bill. They should be disbarred for stupidity! As for her drug charges, they are almost more ludicrous than the arson charges! Who pays $15,000 for some drugs to commit suicide when you can probably buy them anominously on any street corner in Vegas for a few hundred dollars I am guessing. It would be far easier to feign a kidnapping scheme; take your money and hitail it to another country; find a dead body somewhere and claim it was her. Out of country with her money and living the good life. Bottom line Ms. Quon did not wish to commit suicide and certainly not with the bizarre scheme they concocted for her. The witnesses? Oh yes, convicted felons sever times over. Very credible indeed! Are these prosecutors stupid or just plain nuts???

5. Sprague .Cleghorn Jan. 6, 2012 | 8:44 a.m. Report Abuse

   Excellent decision by Judge Herndon overruling an incompetent Judge Bell

6. arizonasteve Jan. 6, 2012 | 8:18 a.m. Report Abuse

   Herndon has gone rogue! I think the chief criminal spot went to his head.

7. Irma.Frankenlander Jan. 6, 2012 | 7:56 a.m. Report Abuse

   This is so not right ! This evidence as presented by the RJ over the last year certainly inidcates this woman stand trial for arson!
   Clark County and NV is Corrupt state !

8. Miles Monroe Jan. 6, 2012 | 7:37 a.m. Report Abuse

   Does anyone think this was something other than a concocted procedureal faux pas to allow these charges to be dismissed? Sorry to go conspiracy theory but if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck....well.

9. YOUR.RIGHT Jan. 6, 2012 | 4:35 a.m. Report Abuse

   @Victim of Metro. Resigned DA David Roger will get his due. His DA Robert Gower oversees Clark County Justice Courts. Now that DA Roger is gone, DA Gower is legally counselling Justice Court Administrators that he will not be exposing criminal activity by DA David Roger. The criminal activity is the software contract DA David Roger signed in March 2004. The contract intentionally manipulates the DA database to exclude domestic violence/child abuse cases. Hang in their Victim of Metro. We are getting justice. Once we get a Judge willing to conduct due diligence, you will be heard in a court of law.

10. Tahoe.DI Jan. 5, 2012 | 8:07 p.m. Report Abuse

    Waiting for the other charges to be dismissed....! Quon will be back practicing law.

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