9th Circuit judge faces misdemeanor charges of battery and property damage
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Updated: Judge Ryan Douglas Nelson, who sits on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at San Francisco, was charged in April with misdemeanor battery and property damage.
On Friday afternoon, a spokesperson for the 9th Circuit confirmed to the ABA Journal that the charges, filed in Bonneville County, Idaho, involve the judge. On Monday, Chief Judge Mary H. Murguia of the 9th Circuit opened a misconduct review involving Nelson.
According to police, during a parking spot dispute Nelson grabbed a man’s glasses, threw them on the ground and stomped on them, theIdaho State Journal reports. A video of the altercation can be seen here.
Nelson pleaded not guilty to the charges in May, according to court records. He did not immediately respond to an ABA Journal interview request. Curtis Smith, who is listed as his counsel on the charges, did not respond to ABA Journal emails and telephone messages.
A pretrial hearing for the case, which includes a no-contact order, is scheduled for June 18. Bonneville County includes Idaho Falls, where Nelson has chambers. He was appointed to 9th Circuit in 2018, according to the Federal Judicial Center, and previously served as a special counsel with the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and general counsel with Melaleuca, an Idaho company that sells products including supplements and essential oils.
Updated June 8 at 2:28 p.m. to include information about a judicial misconduct review opened Monday.
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