Discipline Body Removes Judge Halverson, Citing ‘Bizarre’ Staff Treatment

Judiciary

Discipline Body Removes Judge Halverson, Citing ‘Bizarre’ Staff Treatment

Posted Nov 18, 2008, 07:03 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

The voters have already decided that embattled Las Vegas Judge Elizabeth Halverson should not remain on the bench, and now the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission has issued a strongly worded opinion that says she should never return.

The commission said Halverson’s relationship with her staff was “bizarre” and her interactions with superiors were sometimes paranoid and combative, the Las Vegas Review Journal reports. The ethics body found that Halverson had slept during portions of three jury trials, had improper contacts with two juries, was “unnecessarily disrespectful” toward staff, hired bodyguards without security clearance who accompanied her to court, and made improper statements to the press, according to the Las Vegas Sun.

The troubles began, the commission said, with Halverson’s apparent anger over a decision the chief judge had made before Halverson became a judge.

The commission said Halverson had been a law clerk with the Las Vegas court until Kathy Hardcastle was elected chief judge and fired Halverson because she wanted someone with outside experience. Halverson then ran for the bench and won the second time she sought a seat.

“It didn’t take long for [Halverson] to demonstrate that she truly believed the chief judge was her nemesis and that the chief judge was out to get her,” the commission said in its opinion (PDF). “There is no hard evidence to substantiate this paranoid outlook, and the commission has concluded that Judge Halverson went out of her way to create a conflict with the chief judge.”

The commission said a panel of judges convened by Hardcastle tried to assist Halverson “but she did not have the good judgment to accept.”

“Having been thrown a proverbial rope by the chief judge that could have been used to save her from professionally drowning in her own sea of inexperience as a litigator, her lack of technical knowledge in the area of criminal trial procedure and her limited and stilted interpersonal skills, Judge Halverson chose not to grab onto the rope,” the commission said. “Instead she chose to sink, and she chose to try to pull the district court down with her.”

The commission also said Halverson "had a bizarre relationship with her immediate or personal staff … [and] her treatment of them, as with so many others she encountered, was unnecessarily disrespectful.” It found that Halverson had asked her bailiff to massage her feet, neck and shoulders, and used profanity to refer to other employees.

Other accusations about Halverson’s mistreatment of staff did not meet high levels of proof, the commission said, but Halverson “should not take any solace” in the fact. “The commission finds it regrettable that any of the many allegations had a foundation at all. … No employee, even those inured to a judge’s mercurial temperament and foul mouth should have to experience what Judge Halverson made her immediate staff live and work through on a routine basis.”

The commission said most of Halverson’s actions were willful and there was no mitigating evidence to lessen the punishment. “The damage resulting from her antics and willful misconduct will be felt by the judicial system for a significant future period of time,” said the commission. "Some judges are in office for an entire career and do not accumulate the type of dismal professional history that the record in this case establishes."

The commission's decision had been delayed after Halverson received severe head injuries when her husband attacked her with a frying pan. Edward Halverson pleaded guilty to battery with a deadly weapon last month.

Michael Schwartz, Halverson's lawyer, told the Las Vegas Review Journal that the facts of the case did not merit removing his client from office. Halverson has 15 days to appeal the decision with the Nevada Supreme Court.

The ABA Journal covered the controversial judge in a story last year.

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Posted by JD - 1 month, 2 weeks, 4 days, 14 hours, 57 minutes ago

I read the scathing opinion word for word, and even I am embarrassed for Judge Halverson’s behavior without ever having seen or experienced it!
Posted by Dan Ross - 1 month, 2 weeks, 3 days, 6 hours, 8 minutes ago

I heard that her staff had to warm up her meals manytimes during her feeding sessions, and rubing her feet to releave the pressure of her weight after trails when she woke up to feed again, is this true?
Posted by V. Ery Sillyman - 1 month, 2 weeks, 3 days, 2 hours, 37 minutes ago

I heard she once met Chuck Norris and that when he refused to rub her feet and shoulders she suffocated him with her foul language and foul odor.
Posted by NC - 1 month, 2 weeks, 3 days, 2 hours, 18 minutes ago

As if her unprofessional conduct were not enough, it’s the frying pan event that has caused me the greatest hysteria.
Posted by Where's Ellen? - 1 month, 2 weeks, 3 days, 2 hours, 2 minutes ago

Ellen’s not here either….is she okay?
Posted by EBH3 - 1 month, 2 weeks, 3 days, 1 hour, 44 minutes ago

Ellen has been banned. But fear not, she has her own “blawg”!

http://www.abajournal.com/news/ellen_has_her_own_blawg_after_being_banned_from_this_site/
Posted by missing ellen - 1 month, 2 weeks, 3 days, 1 hour, 40 minutes ago

I love reading Ellen’s comments while I drink my coffee in the morning. I figured she’d comment on this one. Bummer.
Posted by EBH3 - 1 month, 2 weeks, 3 days, 1 hour, 9 minutes ago

Wow - I had to take a look at some photos of the judge in order to understand #2 ... holy ... very large person. Unfortunately, given her tremendous girth, there are a whole range of frying pan jokes that I am not going to get into ... I am not that cruel!

The opinion was scathing to say the least ... she should not be on the bench.
Posted by Charles - 1 month, 2 weeks, 3 days, 37 minutes ago

I am thinking her husband had what we like to call mitigating circumstances.
Posted by al - 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 23 hours, 16 minutes ago

Hello! Welcome to the bogus ABA site!
Posted by Bill Dian - 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 23 hours, 14 minutes ago

Ellen has been banned, and there is a bogus BLAWG set up tby the ABA hat she has NOTHING to do with. It is all a concoction of Molly McButter.
Posted by Jim V - 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 22 hours, 59 minutes ago

As opposed to being necessarily disrespectful
Posted by jls - 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 22 hours, 54 minutes ago

...any more platitudes regarding the wisdom of the voters???
How does someone lik this get elected?
Posted by Michael T - 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 22 hours, 52 minutes ago

Too bad this opinion didn’t come out a month earlier, so her husband could have used it as evidence in his defense. Maybe the sentencing judge will consider his wife’s attitude a mitigating circumstance.
Posted by Colette - 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 22 hours, 42 minutes ago

I think Judge Halverson IS Ellen!
Posted by Doug Antoon - 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 22 hours, 27 minutes ago

I believe the ABA Journal did a feature within the last year on this judge and her attempts to keep her job in the face of (what the Journal posited) may have been an unfair chief judge. The thrust of the article was judicial fairness and could easily have led the reader to believe that Halverson was the viictim. THe article also provided details that made the judge appear to be a highly qualified attorney who had one-upped her colleagues with her legal prowess—which is much different than what the final report appears to have determined.

Will be interesting to see if / how a future Journal piece tells “the rest of the story.”
Posted by Bruce - 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 22 hours, 22 minutes ago

She sounds like she might have been the inspiration for the judge on the TNT network’s “Raising the Bar.”
Posted by R - 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 21 hours, 13 minutes ago

I was struck at how emotional and personal in tone that decision was. Why, it’s almost as if the writers felt immune from any legal repercussions…
Posted by Wallstrafed - 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 20 hours, 54 minutes ago

Her husband needs to weigh in on this. Sounds like he was asked to perform a massage that almost broke the jurist’s neck.
Posted by Sarah - 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 20 hours, 33 minutes ago

Reading the comments I am really shocked by people’s reactions to Ms. Halverson’s “severe head injuries”. There is nothing humorous about domestic violence, and it is never excusable, regardless of how inappropriate or deplorable her behavior may have been in the workplace. Furthermore, it is well documented that physical abuse often leads to mental health conditions among which are anxiety and overreaction to emotional stimuli. (See Mental Health Journal website: http://www.findcounseling.com/journal/) This could perhaps shed some light on the judge’s “bizarre” behavior. Having worked with domestic abuse survivors, that was certainly the first thing that came to my mind when I read about the assault, in light of her “paranoid and combative” reactions to others.
Posted by Sarah - 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 20 hours, 29 minutes ago

Reading the comments I am really shocked by people’s reactions to Ms. Halverson’s “severe head injuries”. There is nothing humorous about domestic violence, and it is never excusable, regardless of how inappropriate or deplorable her behavior may have been in the workplace. Furthermore, it is well documented that physical abuse often leads to mental health conditions among which are anxiety and overreaction to emotional stimuli. This could perhaps shed some light on the judge’s “bizarre” behavior. Having worked with domestic abuse survivors, that was certainly the first thing that came to my mind when I read about the assault, in light of her “paranoid and combative” reactions to others.
Posted by NC - 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 20 hours, 5 minutes ago

I’d agree with #19, but excusing Ms. Halverson’s “bizarre” behavior just because some poor fellow took a frying pan to her head seems like a woefully anemic segue for the publice service announcement we’ve just been subjected to. Lighten up Francis.
Posted by Texas Law - 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 17 hours, 38 minutes ago

Actually, the first thing that I thought regarding the judge’s “bizarre” behavior was “brain tumor”.
Posted by Old - 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 15 hours, 47 minutes ago

Hardcastle really could have used McCormick to protect him in this case
Posted by The Texas Hammer - 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 14 hours, 51 minutes ago

In the immortal words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, “It’s not a tumor.” And, Sarah, do lighten up, too. You sound like someone who’d justify Jeffrey Dahmer’s “behavior” because he was abused.
Posted by JBeardson - 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 14 hours, 43 minutes ago

Even if she is actually a DV survivor, there is absolutely no excuse for her unprofessional and unethical behavior.

Not only was she cited for her bizarre behavior, which included fairly extreme treatment of her staff, she was soundly criticized for her legal incompetence. Her inability to function properly as a judge severely affects the proper adjudication of justice. Would anyone have liked to have had a hearing with her?
Posted by Sarah - 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 10 hours, 49 minutes ago

I appreciate JBeardson’s thoughtful response and I actually agree. I certainly don’t condone her behavior any more then I condone her husband assaulting her. What I said in my message is that it “sheds light on it”. Explaining a possible cause for a behavior is not the same as excusing it. That being said, I was surprised that the Commission found that there were no mitigating factors, because it is hard for me to picture a judge of sound mind behaving that way. But then again, I was also surprised that a group of my colleagues in response to an article in a professional journal would be amused by a physical assault…
Posted by Mr. David Martin Price - 1 month, 2 weeks, 12 hours, 40 minutes ago

These are judges with a God complex, they attempt to rule from the bench instead of what are legislators have put in place. I am glad to hear that she will not effect any other life but her own. I am sorry for her incident, but all the harm she has brough to others has finally caught up with her. Now she can see what te reality of her bad decisions from the bench has done to others as she wanted done to herself. Who says the man upstairs does not have a sence of humor. Ironic isn’t it.
Posted by Gladimadad - 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 hours, 22 minutes ago

Judging by the nutcase behavior descriped in the opinion, it is at least as likely that the husband’s assault on Halverston could be explained by domestic violence on her part. The bed burns on both sides.
Posted by cj - 1 month, 1 week, 5 days, 14 hours, 10 minutes ago

I have not read the entire opinion - merely this article and some of the comments. And I am not justifying her actions or standing up for her, but let me say we are supposed to be comprised of a profession where we base dileberate analysis on facts. Consider these questions and refrain from innuendo; imagine if this was you in this position:

a. did anyone check to see if she had been suffering from domestic violence of this magnitude prior to the frying pan to the head incident; if so, it may be an argument for her alleged behavior - and severe trauma to the head can cause severe problems
b. sometimes people are justifiably paranoid even without hard proof
c. has anyone reviewed the three cases and outcomes this judge allegedly slept through, as well as, the cases she had inappropriate interaction with juries?
d. it says she ‘went out of her way to create conflict with the chief judge’ has anyone reviewed the chief judge’s behavior during this time frame toward her?
e. did she have a psych eval during any of this
f. was she on medications
g.have any other judges / people had issues with her outside of the courtroom or in her earlier professional career
h. same as ‘g’ but in regard to the chief judge
i. i thought you were innocent until PROVEN guilty “other accusations didn’t meet the high enough standards of proof…but she shouldn’t take solace in that.” no innuendo please.
j. haven’t we all in a heated moment said something we later regretted - especially if it was in someone else’s presence?
k. does she have sleep apnea
l.and whoever posted comment 29 should
review libel/slander/false light topics
m. comment 22 “some poor fellow took a frying pan to her head” there is so much wrong with that statement
n. comment 8: if you’re not that cruel you never would have brought it up on an aba blog in the first place
Posted by Mariski - 1 month, 1 week, 5 days, 10 hours, 22 minutes ago

Responding to CJ’s questions:

a. There is no evidence that Ed Halverson ever committed other acts of dv, although neighbors said that Elizabeth was verbally abusive to him. Court staffers said the same thing. At work, Halverson called him “Evil Ed” in fron’t of her staff, and once called him to her chambers and had her clerk put him under oath to ask him if he had done the housework.

b. If someone suffers from a paranoid disorder to the extent that her work capacity is impaired, that person needs to be removed from her position and encouraged to seek treatment. The bench is not the place for someone with a paranoid disorder.

c. In one case, a mistrial was declared in a case of alleged child molestation. The young victims will have to testify again at a new trial.

d. Judge Hardcastle testified before the commission.

e. Halverson refused to submit to a psychiatric evaluation. For this reason, her ADA claim was denied.

f. Halverson refused to submit to a physical evaluation. For this reason, her ADA claim was dismissed.

g. Halverson lived in San Francisco for many years and leased a rent-controlled apartment. When she moved to Las Vegas Halverson’s sister began occupying the apartment. After several years the lardlord discovered that Halverson had become bar-licensed in NV, had bought a house in Las Vegas, had a fulltime job in Las Vegas, etc. He tried to terminate the lease and charge Halverson’s sister full market rate.

Halverson sued, and took the case all the way to the California Supreme Court., and lost.That speaks volumes about her character, IMO.

h. Nothing presented at the hearing. You can be sure that if Judge Hardcastle had abrasive relationships with other court employees, Halverson would have brought that up.

i. There WAS no innuendo.

j. One heated moment is forgivable, especially when one knows how to apologize. Halverson’s foul mouth spewed a constant daily stream of abuse.

k. Halverson weighs at least 500 pounds. She uses bottled oxygen through nasal prongs. I assume she must have some sort of condition, but she refused to allow the commission to verify it. Besides, some conditions are so disabling they can’t be accomodated even through the ADA. If she has sleep apnea, if she has narcolepsy, or whatever - she just can’t be a judge, plain and simple, because she can’t stay awake.

She also claimed to be diabetic, which I can believe given her morbid obesity. She blamed one “asleep on the bench” episode on “low blood sugar”.

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