Two years after a wrenching hearing on a possible death penalty ban, and just weeks after an inmate who was stymied in his quest to die at the hands of the state took his own life, Nevada lawmakers are once again grappling with ending capital punishment.
Democratic Assemblyman Ozzie Fumo and Democratic state Sen. James Ohrenschall are sponsoring AB149, which seeks to abolish the death penalty, and the Senate introduced a second such bill from the pair — SB246, which strikes language allowing the death penalty for first-degree murder — on Friday.
Nevada has not executed someone since 2006, even though there are 77 people on death row, largely because condemned inmates are entitled to what often becomes decades of appeals.
“We need to get that conversation started,” said Fumo, a criminal defense attorney. “There’s a misconception out there about what the death penalty means. I think most people in favor of it think when you get the death penalty, you’re executed within a year. And when they find out that Nevada just doesn’t do it, they change.”
The bills come against the backdrop of the case of Scott Dozier, who was convicted of two murders in the early 2000s and later opted to give up any further appeals of his death sentence. He was twice scheduled for execution and it was twice postponed over legal issues — first over concern about the humaneness of an untried lethal injection combination and later when drugmaker Alvogen objected to its product being used to kill someone.
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Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson is suffering from non-Hodgkin lymphoma but plans to continue working through treatment.
In a statement issued late Thursday, the company……We hope you’re enjoying our content. Subscribe today to continue reading this story, and all of our stories, for just 99 cents.
Case complicated
The disclosure comes just ahead of a civil trial scheduled to begin Monday in Las Vegas.
Attorneys for a Hong Kong businessman waging a 15-year legal battle with Sands are asking a Clark County District Court judge to turn down a request that Adelson be excused from testimony.
Attorneys for Richard Suen and Round Square Company Ltd. filed a motion Feb. 22 and appeared at a hearing before Judge Rob Bare on Monday arguing Adelson should be required to testify or appear for a deposition.
Adelson testified in court in 2001 that he suffers from lumbar plexopathy, a disorder that causes severe pain along his side and hip area. He also testified that medication he uses to manage pain often makes him drowsy. He uses a motorized scooter to stay mobile.
It’s the third time since 2004 that Suen is facing off with Sands in court over claims that he provided Adelson with information and support to win a coveted concession in Macau in the early 2000s.
Clark County juries twice found in favor of Suen. In 2008, he was awarded $43.8 million, but the Nevada Supreme Court vacated the verdict in 2010 because of the amount of hearsay evidence Suen’s attorneys put into the record.
In 2013, another jury awarded Suen $70 million. However, in March 2016, the state Supreme Court affirmed the judgment in favor of Suen while reversing the jury’s decision on damages.
Las Vegas Sands has become a leader in the Macau market, building Sands Macao, The Venetian Macao, Sands Cotai Central (comprised of several hotel brands) and Parisian Macao. The company is converting some of its Cotai Strip developments into the Londoner, a British-themed resort concept.
No SEC filing
In their Feb. 22 motion, attorneys James Pisanelli and Todd Bice argued Adelson should be required to appear, particularly if he is healthy enough to run a publicly-traded company.
Sands officials have said Adelson has not been in the office since around Christmas. The company has not made any SEC filings regarding Adelson’s health.
He did not participate in the company’s Jan. 23 fourth-quarter earnings conference call. At the time, Chief Operating Officer Rob Goldstein told analysts listening to the call that Adelson was “under the weather.”
Judgment call
In Suen’s court filing, attorneys argue Adelson should testify, citing what a letter from Adelson’s doctor doesn’t say.
“It does not say that Adelson is incapable of serving in his capacity as chairman and CEO of a publicly-traded company,” the opposition motion says. “It does not say that there are any restrictions upon him traveling. It does not say that there are any restrictions on him holding meetings. It does not say that there are any restrictions upon him making business decisions, decisions that, at his level, can impact the lives of thousands of employees and shareholders.”
In a transcript of Monday’s proceedings before Bare, Sands attorney Richard Sauber said the company has no expectation that Adelson would be a witness in the trial.
Benjamin Edwards, an associate professor at UNLV’s Boyd Law School, said the company is not required to make an SEC filing for health concerns. Edwards said the level of public disclosure is a corporate board judgment call.
“If a CEO has a colonoscopy and it reveals some troubling information, there’s no automatic disclosure requirement to the market,” Edwards said. “A corporate executive can consult with their physician about how to deal with any health challenge without it immediately being something that they have to disclose to their board of directors and to their shareholders.”
Questions have been raised about the health of Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson as the start date looms for a trial in Clark County District Court that could cost the company millions of dollars in damages.
It is unclear whether Adelson, 85, will be able to testify in the civil lawsuit brought by Hong Kong businessman Richard Suen, who has been seeking compensation from the gaming giant since 2004 over the assistance he claims to have provided Adelson and the company in landing a lucrative concession to operate casinos in Macau in the early 2000s.
Adelson, who is the largest shareholder in Las Vegas Sands, missed the company’s fourth quarter earnings conference call with analysts on Jan. 23 because he was “a little bit under the weather,” Las Vegas Sands President Rob Goldstein said at the call’s outset. A gaming source said Adelson did not attend nor participate in the company’s January board meeting associated with the call.
But comments made in open court ahead of the Suen case paint a different picture.
On Monday, during a hearing on whether Adelson would have to sit for a deposition, Las Vegas lawyer Jim Jimmerson, one of the attorneys representing Las Vegas Sands, told District Judge Rob Bare that the CEO hasn’t been seen at the company’s corporate offices since Christmas.
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LAS VEGAS – (Feb. 1, 2019) James J. Pisanelli and Todd L. Bice, founding partners of Pisanelli Bice, PLLC, announce that Jordan Smith has rejoined the firm as of counsel. Mr. Smith joined the firm in 2012 and now returns after serving as Deputy Solicitor General of Nevada. He will represent the firm in matters related to appellate and complex litigation.
“I am pleased to be rejoining the firm and look forward to advocating for our clients,” said Smith. “It is an honor to be a part of one of the leading law firms in Southern Nevada.”
Mr. Smith has more than eight years of experience in appellate and complex litigation. He has argued 18 times in various state and federal appellate courts on a range of issues, including business disputes, administrative law, bankruptcy, habeas corpus, and the death penalty.
While at the Nevada Attorney General’s Office, Mr. Smith represented the state in many constitutional cases and matters of statewide or national importance. He was lead counsel in the state’s first method of execution challenge since 2006, won a nationwide injunction against an unlawful federal regulation in a multi-state lawsuit, and successfully defended the state in the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit against an effort to jump-start the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project.
Mr. Smith has been recognized by his peers as one of Nevada’s leading litigators, including being named by Best Lawyers as the “Appellate Practice Lawyer of the Year” for Las Vegas, a “Legal Elite” by Nevada Business Magazine, “Appellate Practice Rising Star” by Mountain States Super Lawyers, and a “Top Lawyer” in litigation by Desert Companion Magazine.
“We are excited to welcome Jordan back to our legal team,” said Pisanelli. “He returns to us with an impressive record of litigating in the state and federal courts, and we know that he will serve our clients well and with the highest skill level they have come to expect from Pisanell Bice.”
Mr. Smith is a member of the State Bar of Nevada and the Federalist Society and regularly argues pro bono appeals in conjunction with the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada. He has published several scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals on issues of gaming law and statutory interpretation. Mr. Smith also engages in continuing legal education presentations and other speaking engagements.
Khabib Nurmagomedov could be back as early as April.
On Tuesday’s meeting of the Nevada Athletic Commission, a five-member committee voted in favor of a settlement agreement that will see Nurmagomedov receive a nine-month suspension and a $500,000 fine for his involvement in the UFC 229 post-fight brawl. The suspension can be reduced by up to three months pending Nurmagomedov’s participation in an anti-bullying public service announcement that must be approved by the NAC.
Nurmagomedov’s suspension will be retroactive to Oct. 6, 2018, meaning Nurmagomedov could be eligible to compete again on April 6, 2019 should the suspension be reduced.
The fine will be paid from a portion of Nurmagomedov’s purse that is currently being withheld by the NAC. Nurmagomedov was set to make a guaranteed $2,000,000 for his UFC 229 bout in addition to pay-per-view bonuses.
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