Judge of the Day

Judge of the Day: Nicholas Del Vecchio(And a digression on judges and oral sex.)

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What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Unless it involves an allegedly misbehaving judge, in which case it makes these pages.
If the allegations are true, today’s Judge of the Day puts the “Sin” in Sin City. From the Las Vegas Review Journal:

The Family Court judge accused of making a 14-year-old girl perform oral sex on him and years later coercing her into a sexual relationship remained on the bench Monday as court officials considered his future.

Court officials talked about taking away the caseload of Nicholas Del Vecchio but haven’t made any decisions, said Chuck Short, county court administrator. The court doesn’t have the authority to remove Del Vecchio. Only the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission can remove or suspend a sitting judge.

As Judge Elizabeth Halverson well knows.
You’d think that allegations of oral sex with a 14-year-old would be sufficient to prevail as Judge of the Day. But you can read more about Judge Del Vecchio’s alleged misadventures, including claims of surreptitious audio recordings and nude photography, after the jump.


Still from the LVRJ:

The special prosecutor for the Judicial Discipline Commission on Friday accused Del Vecchio of wide-ranging sexual misconduct. The prosecutor, Mary Boetsch, accused Del Vecchio in a 38-count civil complaint of having sex with his ex-wife’s 14-year-old daughter in the early 1990s. He is also accused of taking nude photos of the girl when she was between the ages of 14 and 16.

This is all very…. Soon-Yi. But we doubt this story will have such a happy ending (no pun intended).

About a decade later, that same girl, then in her 20s and identified as Rebeccah Murray, began working as a judicial assistant for Del Vecchio. She accused Del Vecchio of coercing her to have sex with him and making audio recordings of the encounters without her permission.

A bailiff and other court staff also accused the judge of making inappropriate sexual and racial remarks, the complaint states. He is also accused of using his position to get free lunches and airline tickets.

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And he’s only in Family Court. Judge Del Vecchio deserves props for making the most of his position, if there’s any truth to these claims.
Two final digressions. First, what’s up with all these allegations of legal eagles having oral sex with minors? See also Carl Stanley McGee.
Second, what’s up with state court judges and oral sex? Why do all roads seem to lead to BJ-ville?
Longtime readers of ATL may recall this colorful recusal motion, in which litigant Robert Seitz tried to get Judge Mary Barzee Flores (pictured) to recuse herself, based on his claim that she once administered fellatio to him — a BJ so magnificent that it “resulted in the plaintiff screaming so loud that he was later told that he may have set off an alarm in a parked car outside.”
Readers and commenters had a field day with Rob Seitz’s motion. But in Judge Barzee’s defense, the allegations are somewhat dubious. Check out these collected news clips (PDF). It appears that Robert Seitz, the man who accused Judge Barzee of going down on him all those years ago, has some, er, issues. Even though his allegations are fun and colorful, and good fodder for ATL, their truth is open to question (to say the least).
Robert Seitz may have made these allegations merely in an effort to force Judge Barzee off the case. In the words of one of our favorite South Florida lawyers, David Markus:

This guy has moved to recuse 4 other judges before her (successfully). He’s had 8 other lawyers. He has done everything he can to stall the case. When Barzee denied his motions to continue (the case has been pending for 8 years), he filed this ridiculous motion. The guy is a total nut job.

You can quote me.

Sex Allegations: Caseload could be stripped [Las Vegas Review-Journal]
Earlier: Legal Ethics Question of the Day: If the Court Has Gone Down on You, Is Recusal Required?
Seitz v. Bareille: Blown Out of Proportion?

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