Attorney Fees
Embattled Judge Says She Can’t Pay Legal Fees
Posted May 29, 2008, 11:45 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Embattled Las Vegas Judge Elizabeth Halverson has requested a continuance so she can prepare to defend herself on an ethics complaint that she fell asleep on the bench and treated staff like servants.
Halverson told the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission that she owes more than $90,000 in legal fees and a trial would cost an additional $125,000, the Associated Press reports. She says she can’t pay since "over the last year I have paid or incurred in excess of $120,000 in legal fees."
Halverson’s lawyers have sought to withdraw because of “an irreconcilable conflict of interest."
The complaint against Halverson contends she fell asleep on the bench three times, had improper conversations with deliberating jurors, made comments to the media that could have affected a pending case, tried to hack into a computer system to access other employees’ e-mails, and created a hostile work environment for court employees.
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