A 14-count complaint against suspended Clark County District Judge Elizabeth Halverson, accusing her of improper conduct, sexual harassment and sleeping on the bench, was filed today by the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission.
The complaint states that Halverson fell asleep during three trials early last year, improperly talked with jurors impaneled to decide a case she was handling, sexually harassed a bailiff and harassed other employees, and improperly hired her own security guards.
The complaint also states that Halverson refused to communicate, except through a lawyer, with Chief Clark County District Judge Kathy Hardcastle about various administrative court functions.
Halverson's suspension, which began in mid-2007, was upheld in November by the state Supreme Court pending the discipline panel's decision on whether she's fit to be a judge. She was elected in 2006 to the court.
The high court said in upholding the suspension that Halverson's conduct "posed a substantial threat of serious harm to the public and to the administration of justice."
Halverson's lawyers have said the judge continues to draw her $130,000 yearly salary, and have maintained that the discipline commission lacks the legal authority to suspend her before holding a formal proceeding on specific charges against her.
The attorneys also have said concerns about Halverson's behavior ended after she changed her initial staff, and also said she slept on the bench only once and that was because she was taking a drug to treat a medical problem.
Dorothy Nash Holmes, the discipline commission's lawyer, signed the latest complaint. Holmes had said in September that the case was proceeding "almost at lightning speed compared with other cases" before the commission.
Carson City Assistant District Attorney Gerald Gardner was defeated in August 2006 by Halverson in the primary contest for the seat.
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