Jun. 23
Las Vegas Review-Journal
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CHARGES: Arrest not first at judge's home
Police reports detail three other incidents
By MIKE KALIL
REVIEW-JOURNAL
The arrest this week of a Family Court judge on allegations of battering his girlfriend is the fourth time in four years that police have arrested someone in the judge's home on domestic violence charges.
Three of the four times police were called to intervene in a family fight at the Henderson home of Judge Steven Jones unfolded in the past 14 months, according to police records obtained by the Review-Journal.
The reports show that in each case, police left with a resident of the home in handcuffs facing a misdemeanor domestic violence charge.
Jones, who on the bench presides over domestic violence cases, is out of town until next week and unavailable for comment, according to his bailiff.
A veteran advocate for local domestic violence victims was astonished by the frequency of the incidents at the home of a judge elected by voters to protect victims of domestic violence.
"This sends a poor message to our community, " said Kathleen Brooks, associate director of SafeNest, which offers shelter and counseling to domestic violence victims.
We would want folks on the bench who are accountable for their own behavior, who don't engage in violent behavior. If you're a public servant, you have a responsibility to behave in a certain way. Otherwise, how do victims feel safe going to Family Court?
In the four cases in Jones' home:
Jones, 48, was arrested Tuesday night on allegations he threw his five-year girlfriend from their bedroom and that she landed on her face. The girlfriend, legal secretary Amy McNair, has obtained a restraining order against the judge.
McNair, 34, was arrested Oct. 23 on allegations of choking Jones' then-17-year-old daughter, Ashley. The girl told police McNair cornered her in a bedroom, scratched her arm and grabbed her by the throat.
The attack occurred after Ashley and her family returned from a day at the races. McNair had not gone with them because she had been kicked out of the event the previous night after getting drunk and causing a disturbance, the report states.
An officer who interviewed McNair about the attack wrote in his arrest report that McNair "told me she had been drinking all day."
Ashley Jones was arrested while still a juvenile on April 10, for a fight in which she and McNair pummelled one another and police determined the teen to be the primary aggressor. The skirmish began as an argument over Ashley Jones' unexcused school absences.
Ashley slapped McNair's face several times when McNair tried to take a phone from her, a police report states.
McNair was arrested Jan. 1, on a domestic violence battery count. Additional information about this case could not be obtained Thursday.
Conviction or acquittal information could not be confirmed in each case, but police records indicate each of the suspects was briefly jailed.
By law, anyone arrested for domestic violence must remain in jail for at least 12 hours.
Jones spent about 12 hours in jail before a fellow judge ordered his release on personal recognizance. District Judge Donald Mosley granted the request after Jones' bailiff called him Wednesday morning, court spokesman Michael Sommermeyer said.
Mosley did not know that a request had already been denied by Henderson Municipal Court Judge Ken Proctor, Sommermeyer said.
Court rules allow judges to order such releases "on an emergency basis only" for anything but a violent felony. The judge must consider whether the arrestee will show up for court and not be a threat to the community. For example, someone arrested on a Friday in a remote town could ask a judge for release instead of spending the weekend in jail, Sommermeyer said.
Mosley, through Sommermeyer, said he followed the letter of the law.
Meanwhile, Jones has been removed from hearing any domestic violence cases while his own case is pending, Clark County District Court administrators said.
McNair is attempting through the courts to extend the emergency temporary protective order she got against Jones after his arrest.
Such cases are typically decided in Family Court, but the case was assigned to an appointed senior judge "to avoid the appearance of impropriety and potential conflict, " Clark County District Court Executive Officer Charles J. Short said in a statement Thursday.
Senior Judge J. Charles Thompson will consider McNair's request on Monday.
Review-Journal staff writer Brian Haynes contributed to this report.
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