LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The Clark County District Attorney has filed a motion to prevent a judge from presiding over criminal cases prosecuted by his office. District Attorney Steve Wolfson filed the motion for the recusal of Clark County District Court Judge Erika Ballou on Wednesday.
Wolfson referred to an ethics complaint he filed with the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline on April 30 accusing Ballou of five ethics violations.
In his motion filed in the Eighth Judicial District Court, Wolfson referred to Ballou’s behavior as “egregious,” and wrote, “The stakes are extraordinarily high for Judge Ballou since one potential outcome of this ethics complaint could be her removal from judicial office.”
Wolfson also wrote, “The recusal of Judge Ballou from all criminal matters involving the District Attorney’s office, while the ethics complaint is pending is the only way to ensure impartiality for these criminal cases.”
As first reported by the 8 News Now Investigators, the Nevada Supreme Court ordered Clark County District Court Chief Judge Jerry Wiese to remove Ballou from a criminal case on May 3. Ballou had not followed two previous orders from Nevada’s high court regarding the same case. The May 3 order pointed to “the district court’s failure to comply.”
The district attorney’s office filed a motion for Ballou to recuse herself from the case. A judge should not take action on a case after that filing, according to Nevada state law.
Ballou still took action on the case, court records show.
The 8 News Now Investigators first reported the criminal case in question involving Mia Christman who was part of a violent crime spree at the age of 18. She pleaded guilty to two felony charges and was sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in prison.
Las Vegas judge’s controversial decision at center of woman’s case
In an appeal, Christman’s attorney, Betsy Allen argued that Christman was the victim of sex trafficking and childhood trauma.
Ballou vacated the sentence in 2021 resulting in Christman’s release from prison before she finished serving the original term.
“It felt like somebody took a chance on me,” Christman told the 8 News Now Investigators in an exclusive interview.
The Clark County District Attorney’s office continued to fight for Christman to serve the remainder of her sentence and argued that Christman was manipulating the system again. Christman failed to cooperate and disappeared twice before her guilty plea, according to prosecutors.
NV Supreme Court orders removal of Las Vegas judge from case
The Nevada Supreme Court reversed Ballou’s order in 2022. Ballou did not send Christman back to prison.
The Nevada Supreme Court issued an order again in 2023. Ballou still did not send Christman back to prison.
Allen and Christman went to the pardons board in March which denied their request. Nevada Supreme Court Justice Douglas Herndon expressed frustration.
“This is kind of turning our pardons process on its head,” Herndon said. “The walls are closing in on the district court that is shockingly refusing to do its job.”
After the Nevada Supreme Court ordered Wiese to remove Ballou from Christman’s case, Clark County District Court Judge Eric Johnson ordered Christman to surrender on May 7th. She surrendered the next day.
In addition to Wolfson’s ethics complaint, Ballou already faced ethics charges for several separate incidents including a photo of Ballou in a hot tub with two public defenders.
Las Vegas judge posed in hot tub with public defenders, faces ethics charges
Ballou served as a public defender for over 15 years before being sworn into the bench in 2021. Her current term ends in 2027.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
Source Agencies
