Carson district attorney wants district court to reconsider Weddell ruling

In papers filed this week, Carson City District Attorney Noel Waters is asking Carson City District Court Judge Bill Maddox to reconsider last Thursday's ruling that forces the justice court clerk to file a criminal complaint from resident Ron Weddell.

Weddell and his attorney Day Williams were reported happy with last week's decision by Maddox that said Weddell's criminal complaint against brothers John and James Bustamonte should have been accepted by the clerk when it was first filed Feb. 17, 1999.

Through the lawsuit, Williams and Weddell assert that paperwork was handed off to Waters without being properly filed. Waters argued that proper procedure was followed when Judge Robey Willis directed the complaint not to be filed.

"There was a motion that was under submission but was never decided," Waters said. He is hoping for a hearing to decide if Willis had the right to deny the submission of the criminal complaint. Because the motion is on a fast track, a decision should be handed down in the next week.

Willis said the filing was disallowed because:

- The filing should be done by a proper legal body such as the district attorney or attorney general.

- The criminal complaint was not accompanied by an affidavit that outlined the alleged crimes.

In the complaint, Weddell alleges that in October 1997 the brothers conspired to make his daughter Kellie Weddell sell drugs and later attempted to run down a worker of Weddell's on his company's property.

The case has been the subject of two federal lawsuits, a grand jury petition and local lawsuits. Weddell was arrested on deadly weapons charges when he attempted to make a citizen's arrest and unsuccessfully shot at one of the brothers. His case was sent to district court by Willis, but later dismissed by retired Judge Michael Fondi.

Williams said at this point Weddell's interest is in expediting a prosecution of the brothers. He said the three-year statute of limitations against the brothers runs out Oct. 17 and that charges must be filed before then.

"It's really odd for the DA to stop a criminal complaint from being filed," he said. "Would you want that on your record?"