Friday, October 22, 2010
Lawsuit Charges DA's Office Hostile to Women
RENO - A lawsuit filed in Reno Federal Court charges the District Attorney’s Office and DA Dick Gammick with tolerating a hostile work environment for women. Also, the lawsuit alleges, when two women employees complained, the DA's office retaliated by investigating one of them.On one level the suit is an all too typical sexual harassment action, one of a number brought over the years by Reno attorney Mark Mausert. It charges women who work in the DA's subpoena service office endure a hostile environment, one in which a male employee, Jay Mannlein, routinely refers to women as bitches and joked about starting a women hater's club. According to the suit, none of this was unknown to District Attorney Dick Gammick himself, who, it says, had personal knowledge of the problem and even laughed at it.The suit says also Mannlein who had dated another woman in the office said "he would chop the bitch up and bury her by the side of the road."According to the suit, that comment actually led to disciplinary action, not against Mannlein, but one of the women, Anje Earl, who reported it.Given Mannlein's alleged record of making hostile statements and attempting to intimidate other employees in the office, Mausert says, she wasn't quite sure what to do. Mr. Gammick in his wisdom decided to discipline my client for having waited three days to report potential work place violence."Earl and fellow worker Amy Peterson were reportedly transferred to other floors in the DA's office, denying them access to a computer program that allows them to research people they are assigned to serve with subpoenas. Without that access, Mausert says, they were at risk, unable to identify potentially dangerous assignments and arrange protection.
Richard Gammick time to retire
HAGER & HEARNE
Attorneys at Law
Robert R. Hager 245 E. Liberty, Ste. 110
Treva J. Hearne Reno> Nevada 89501
(775) 329-5800-Telephone
(775) 329'5819'Facsimile
November 12, 2008
Hand Delivered:
Mr. Richard Gammick
Washoe County District Attorney
1 Sierra Street
Reno, Nevada 89501
Re: Nolan Klein
Dear Mr Gammick:
Sometime in the week of September 22, 2008, you stated to a Channel 4
television producer that the sealed evidence envelope in the case of State v. Nolan
Klein was opened and "used for testing." I represent Mr. Klein.
This letter is a formal demand for all documents reflecting the results of any and
all tests performed on any and all evidence that was collected in that case. Also, please
explain why the evidence was signed out of the evidence room in the basement of the
Washoe County District Courthouse by someone from the Washoe County District
Attorney's Office after the trial, and provide the name of the representative of the DA's
office who removed the evidence in that case from the evidence room after the trial.
Finally, please provide a court order or other documentation reflecting the authority
under which the evidence was removed from the evidence room after the trial in that
case. Please provide the documents and information requested within ten days.
Robert R. Hager
f Advisory Commission on Admin, of Justice"
Exhibit t Pg 4_ of M, Date:
Submitted h^^
Printable ^age 1 of I
Pardons Board rejects pleas by nine of 15 petitioners
BY
NEVADA APPEAL CAPITOL BUREAU,
The Pardons Board on Wednesday rejected pleas for clemency by nine of 15 prison inmates, including John
Olausen, convicted in the murder of undercover Reno police officer James Hoff.
Olausen was 18 when he participated in the 1979 murder, which occurred during a drug deal gone wrong. He has
now served nearly 30 years on a sentence of life without possible parole.
Although Olausen said he regrets the killing "to the depths of my soul," Reno Police officer Dave Jenkins - one
of the few officers still active who knew Hoff - said giving him a chance would be "an offense to every member
of this community."
He asked the board to keep Olausen in prison and the board agreed, unanimously.
When the board hit the cases of Robert Stoltz, given life for a Reno murder in the 1980s, and Jamie Cunningham,
sentenced to life as an habitual criminal 15 years ago, they ran into a legal problem. David Smith of the Parole
Board said even if those two were given the possibility of parole by the Pardons Board, parole officials couldn't
release them because of a statute that precludes release from a life sentence if the inmate has a prior criminal
history.
Justice Jim Hardesty said the conflict raises a public policy question and a possible conflict with the state
constitution.
Attorney Richard Cornell, who represented both men, said Cunningham even has the support of the victim's
father who believes him innocent of the crime.
In Stoltz's case, he said he has everything going right, "but because of this stolen check case from 1979, we
can't give parole."
The board granted Amalia Boyer parole eligibility on her second degree murder conviction out of Clark County.
She shot her best friend in the head when she was 16 and has spent the past 11 years in prison.
Jesus Avelar was released from his drug trafficking conviction and turned over to immigration authorities. He will
be deported to Mexico and said he plans to work on the family's farm.
While Mark McKinney of Las Vegas was denied relief on his request to run 15 conviction sentences concurrently
instead of consecutively, Michael Smith won concurrent sentencing on his 21 sentences. The difference, in the
eyes of the board, was the extensive programs Smith has involved himself in including not only psychological
counseling and substance abuse courses but educational classes. He will be eligible for parole in 2011.
The board continued the petition by Thomas Welsh, who pleaded guilty to first degree murder in Clark County
and agreed to a life sentence without parole. Justice Michael Cherry said he wants to see the transcript of the
sentencing hearing and the plea agreement to determine why Welsh basically got nothing out of the agreement
except the maximum possible sentence.
The board also denied 76-year-old Janine Hillman, who was convicted of executing a Sparks 71-year-old 21 years
ago. The victim's son, Dave Galleron, urged the board to reject the plea saying she held him prisoner, tortured
and killed him, then spent three days draining his bank accounts while the victim's body lay in a hot tub.
And the board denied Nolan Klein, who was convicted of sexual assault some 19 years ago. Attorney Robert
Hager raised serious questions about the evidence in that case saying the district attorney and sheriff's office
have allowed cigarette butts with DNA evidence on them to disappear from the evidence despite Klein's request
they be maintained so they could be tested.
http://www.nevadaappeal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081030/NEWS/810299948/... 11/20/2008
Klein has always maintained he is innocent of the crime.
Hager said the disappearance of the evidence is especially serious in the wake of a recent
TV appearance by Washoe District Attorney Dick Gammick in which he told an
interviewer Klein's evidence was tested.
"Where is that report?" Hager demanded, saying it could exonerate Klein of the crime. "It
would either be exculpatory or incriminating."
After the denial, Hager said the issue will be raised in Klein's ongoing federal case.
Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at or 687-8750.
To Prove His Innocence
So, I, Tonja Brown, am asking that this letter will be placed in the file of Mr.
Klein at the Pardons Board for the sole purpose of those who are viewing
this case for the first time, really look deep into the pages where the lies of
others have manifested and remained dormant for so many years. I have
personalty pointed out to you, the Members of the Pardons Board, where to
look, and
where these lies have originated from and by whom. I have hopes and
dreams that someday, there will come a day, when decisions will be based
on the truth and the laws of our justice system will be followed, and not by
what is the politically correct thing to do at the expense of the innocent,
and that of the innocent, is worth saving no matter what the ramifications
may hold. Isn't it?
I hope that there will be a day, when a new breed of Justices' will walk the
corridors of our Nevada Supreme Court Building, who will have the courage
to do the right thing, and no longer will the eyes of justice be blinded to what is
staring them right in the face, that Mr. Klein, is in fact, INNOCENT."
Apparently, In 2008 our Nevada Supreme Court Justices and Pardons Board are
not that new breed afterall!
Tonja Brown
Lawsuit
challenges Gammick
Washoe DA is accused of tolerating
manufacture of evidence to damage sexual
harassment complainants in his office
Dennis Myers
The Washoe County District Attorney's office
, has been accusedflf manufacturing„',!
y^; evidence and then ile^troying evi-' i
dence of that manufacture in an
effort to suppress a sexual harass-
nt complaint against office,
ployee Jay Mannlein. : . '
A federal lawsuit was filed in
U.S. District Court by veteran D.A.
office employees Amy Peterson and
Anje Earl, who deliver summonses
for the district attorney. One of their
fellow office workers, Jay Mannlein
is charged in the lawsuit with engag
ing in "vulgar, misogynistic
"Defendant Washoe County-
lias a history of tolerating
workplace violence."
Mark Maosert
Attorney
statements" and violent language,
such as—in describing an office
employee he previously dated—"I'm
going to chop the bitch up and bury
her by the side of the road."
The charge that evidence was
manufactured and then evidence of
the manufacture concealed could, if
substantiated, throw doubt on prose
cutions in Washoe County by .
revealing a willingness by the office
to "cross ^ethical lines topbtaih cbil--
victions. \ ■
"Defendant Washoe County has"
a history of tolerating workplace
violence, e.g., defendant tolerated =/■
violent ideation [forming ideas or
mental images] from one of its
employees, which was regularly
directed at another employee, over a
span of years," the lawsuit charges.
"District Attorney Richard
Gammick had personal knowledge
of this course of conduct and mini
mized such. District Attorney, -
Gammick, on occasion, laughed at
the statements. Defendant [Washoe]
County tolerated other forms of
workplace violence, e.g., the
employee, on two occasions, held a
knife to the throat of the same
victim in a threatening manner. This
conduct was minimized and toler
ated by District Attorney Gammick,
and at least one other manager, via
a claim, 'he's a good guy and has
had a long career,' and 'that's the
way he is.'"
The lawsuit also charges that:
• Earl was penalized by being
suspended for a day and received
written discipline on the pretext that
wasnoe wunty District Attorney mcnara
Gammick is at the center of an array of charges
in a sexual harassment lawsuit.
she failed to report Mannlein's "chop
the bitch up" statement in a timely
manner. (She reported it three days
after he allegedly made it.)
• The office "investigation" of
Peterson and Earl's charges was -••
used to threaten Earl and her attoif'
ney, Mark Mausert.
• The two plaintiffs were retajij
ated against in the office, including
in a way that threatened their per
sonal safety when they were
transferred to office space where
they could not use software that
aided them in delivering sum
monses in the safest possible
manner.
• The plaintiffs received posi
tive job evaluations until they
reported their sexual harassment
complaints.
The lawsuit names office
employees Cynthia Wyett, Marc .
Covington and Lidia Osmetti,
though it does not fully explain why
all of them were named. Covington
is accused of destroying manufac-
, tured evidence. The lawsuit says
that Earl was given a cell phone to
use in her official duties, and that
the phone already had a group of
lurid phone messages on itAsrheifH-;
was given to her, apparently, to paint
Earl as someone whose cohdjict ;'
,; invited such messages>; Earl 4bfin<| >
the messagesonthe phone,^helaw
suit says, and quickly returned, ft tidl;
Covington, who then deletedjthis '■
messages. "Defeiidant [\Vash<)e]- $!.;
* County maintains aMactaal-poliey, ■
in contravention of the written pofi-
cies it purports to enforce, which
: allows for the manufacture of evi-
' dence, when convenient to serve the
■ ■ purposes of the District Attorney's
Office," the lawsuit claims.
In addition, the lawsuit charges
that Gammick or someone repre
senting him "repeatedly attempted]
to effect substantive ex pane con
tact with plaintiffs, while knowing
plaintiffs .,. had expressed a desire
to effect all substantive contact
through counsel."
Mannlein, a native of Brooklyn, ;
has "Women" listed after
"Interested in" on his FacebooJc
page. The suit says Gammick failed
to act on "Mannlein's vulgar,
.misogynistic statements, and of
•Mannlein's propensity for threaten
ing female employees."
- The filing went on, "Mr.
' Mannlein is a large man, who has
acquired and maintained a reputa
tion of projecting a threatening
mien, and of indulging in vulgar,
misogynistic statements. ... The
"
«*c-. »?■■-!££
Pardons Board Inmate Case Agenda (Amended 10/13/2008)
Meeting of October 29, 2008
Page 3
-
e.*
£*
g.*
h.*
i.*
Huffman, Lynn #21999
• Convicted in Washoe County for:
Case # 85998 Murder 1st Degree (Count I), Use of a Deadly Weapon
Enhancement (Count I)
• Serving: Life without the Possibility of Parole, CS Life without the
Possibility of Parole
• Inmate requests both sentences to be commuted to one sentence of Life
with the possibility of parole.
Davis, Roger #23363
• Convicted in White Pine County for:
Case # 1799 Murder 1st Degree (Count I),
Use of a Deadly Weapon Enhancement (Count I)
Serving: Life without the Possibility of Parole, CS Life without the
Possibility of Parole
Inmate requests sentences be commuted to allow the possibility of
parole.
Hillman, Janine #25689
• Convicted in Washoe County for:
Case # 871200 Murder 1 * Degree (Count I),
Use of a Deadly Weapon Enhancement (Count I)
• Serving: Life without the Possibility of Parole, CS Life without the
Possibility of Parole
Inmate requests commutation of sentences to Life with the possibility of
parole.
Klein, Nolan #28074
Convicted in Washoe County for:
Case # 881692 Sexual Assault (Count IV)
Case # 88169 Use of a Deadly Weapon Enhancement
(Count IV)
• Serving: Life with Parole, CS Life with Parole
• Inmate requests commutation of sentences to defined number of years to
be served.
Welsh, Thomas #28147
Convicted in Clark County for:
Case # 85131 Murder 1st Degree (Count I)
• Serving: Life without the Possibility of Parole
• Inmate requests commutation of sentence to allow the possibility of
parole.
uniocK ur\j\ eviaence -
SUN EDITORIAL:
vegas sun rage ion
ynlock DNA evidence
Testing of biological evidence should be allowed even
after a conviction
Sat, Nov 8, 2008 (2:06 a.m.)
Common sense has led 44 states and the federal government to pass laws allowing DNA testing after
someone has been convicted at trial and appeals have been exhausted.
Alaska is a state where people convicted in local district courts are not covered by such a law. A case-
there has now gone to the U.S. Supreme Court, which agreed Monday to decide whether post-conviction
DNA testing is a constitutional right
The case involves a prison inmate convicted in 1994 of kidnapping, beating and raping a prostitute. The
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in April that prosecutors should turn over biological evidence
used to convict the man, so that it could be tested using today's much more precise methods.
Xlaska prosecutors appealed to the Supreme Court, saying the appeals court had "created from whole
cloth" a constitutional right of post-conviction access to DNA evidence, according to a story in The New
York Times.
Yet the U.S. Constitution, which should and does evolve with the times, was written to safeguard
people's rights. We believe an unqualified right for imprisoned people to have access to biological
evidenoHfiat could determine their guilt or innocence through DNA testing would be in keeping with
the intent of tfte^Constitution.
hope the Supreme Court shares our view. More than 200 convicted people in this country, including
17 who had been sentenced to death, have been exonerated through post-conviction DNA testing.
(Certainly they had a right to have their sentences overturned.
i
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/nov/08/unlock-dna-evidence/ 11/10/2008
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)