Inquiry Sought Into Vegas Jurist

A senior federal judge said Saturday that he had urged the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to investigate the actions of a Las Vegas jurist reported to have awarded millions of dollars in judgments and fees without disclosing his ties to those who benefited.

The senior federal judge, Terry Hatter of Los Angeles, said that the staff at the 9th Circuit had prepared a summary of the alleged actions by U.S. District Judge James C. Mahan, and that he expected action would be initiated against Mahan.

Hatter was responding to articles in the Los Angeles Times earlier this month that disclosed what appeared to be widespread conflicts of interest, favoritism and other questionable behavior by eight current and former Las Vegas judges.

Mahan, 62, was the only federal judge whose actions were analyzed in the articles. He was named to the federal bench four years ago by President Bush after spending three years as a local District Court judge.

Investigations into federal judges are confidential. Officials at the 9th Circuit, which covers nine Western states including Nevada and California, have declined to say whether action has been initiated against Mahan or is being considered.

“I’ve indicated to the 9th Circuit that I am concerned enough on the basis of the [newspaper] articles themselves that I am prepared to file a complaint,” Hatter said. “But I don’t expect it will be necessary for me to file a complaint, because I believe it’s already being prepared. I fully expect the chief judge to do something.”

Hatter, a longtime federal jurist and himself a former chief judge of the 9th Circuit, was referring to Chief Judge Mary M. Schroeder of Phoenix. It would be her job to name a special committee to investigate Mahan’s actions if she thought there were grounds to do so.

Hatter said the newspaper’s report on Mahan was a frequent topic of conversation at a conference of federal judicial councils last week in Santa Fe, N.M.

“Several of us talked about it, and we were all appalled, frankly,” he said. “It’s such a black mark.”

The Times report said that during his seven years as a state and federal judge, Mahan approved more than $4.8 million in judgments and fees without disclosing his long-standing ties to those who benefited from the decisions.

Mahan has vigorously denied any conflict of interest. He has acknowledged that he routinely did not disclose such personal relationships, which he dismissed as insignificant.

Earlier this week, the Nevada Supreme Court asked three other Las Vegas judges named in the Times articles to respond to assertions that they had engaged in conflicts of interest, favoritism and violations of judicial canons.

The three, among 17 senior judges in Nevada, are James A. Brennan, Joseph S. Pavlikowski and Stephen L. Huffaker. They have declined to comment.

The state’s chief justice, Robert E. Rose, also called for strengthening the agency responsible for investigating allegations against judges. Legislative and judicial leaders also are lining up behind proposals to do away with the system of electing judges and have them appointed by an independent commission.