LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Embattled Nye County Justice Court Judge Michele Fiore will remain suspended from the bench, the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission decided Monday.
WATCH | Steve Sebelius has the latest on the Fiore decision
The ruling modifies her suspension, restoring pay that was withheld after her October conviction on charges of diverting charitable donations meant for a memorial for a fallen cop to her own personal use.
Fiore — a former Nevada assemblywoman and member of the Las Vegas City Council — was indicted on federal wire fraud charges in July, at which point the commission suspended her with pay. Following her conviction in October, the commission modified her suspension to take away her $90,000 annual judicial salary.
FILE | Hear what Michele Fiore had to say about her federal indictment on fraud charges:
Trump intervened again in April, issuing a full pardon for Fiore and ending her criminal case. Fiore vowed to immediately return to the courtroom, but has not shown up for work after a May 2 hearing in which her attorney, Paola Armeni, argued for her reinstatement with three basic arguments:
- The pardon essentially erases Fiore's conviction, and to the extent she was suspended based on that conviction, she should be allowed to resume her job.
- The commission has jurisdiction only over a person's conduct on the bench. The conduct for which Fiore was convicted took place years before she was appointed, and later elected, to her judicial job, and is thus beyond the commission's reach.
- Fiore poses no danger to the community. If she did, Armeni argued, she would not have been released during her trial, since a prerequisite for such a release is that a defendant doesn't pose a threat.
But the commission — in its eight-page unanimous decision — said it has received additional complaints against Fiore, and that it was continuing her suspension — albeit with pay — while those are resolved.
While commissioners acknowledged they could not punish Fiore for the criminal conduct for which she was pardoned, they could suspend her if she "...poses a substantial threat of serious harm to the public or to the administration of justice."
"A pardon may close a criminal case related to an ethical complaint against the judge, but it does not preclude the commission from considering a judge's ongoing conduct as it may relate to the conviction to determine the judge's potential violation of the Revised Nevada Code of Judicial Conduct," the ruling reads.
"Here, the evidence of [Fiore's] dishonesty and retention of funds maintained under false pretenses 'reveal[s] a current, emergent threat to the judiciary and requires the Commission to impose interim suspension 'to protect against anticipated future harm, including harm to the public's perception of the judicial system.'"
The commission also addressed Fiore's contention that because the conduct in her criminal case took place before Fiore was appointed to the bench, the commission lacked jurisdiction to suspend her for it.
"However, the evidence shows that after becoming a judicial officer and accepting the great responsibility of preserving the principle of justice and the rule of law in the State of Nevada, [Fiore] continued to defraud the donors by keeping donations to which she was not entitled and continued to fail to notify them she used their funds for personal expenses instead of the statue."
Channel 13 has reached out to Fiore for comment on the ruling.
READ THE FULL DECISION HERE
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