Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melanie Tobiasson testifying in a Judicial Disciplinary Commission hearing in December 2019. (Nevada Current file photo)
The Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission notified parties and the public Friday that a five-day hearing set to begin Monday into allegations against Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melanie Tobiasson has been continued indefinitely.
“Public Hearing Continued Until Further Order of the Commission” says the posting on the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission’s schedule.
On Thursday, the Current reported Tobiasson believes Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo has attempted to retaliate and intimidate her for speaking out about Metro and sex trafficking.
The Commission declined to provide a reason for the delay when contacted by phone and said it would be included in the order on its website. No order has been posted.
The JDC intended to hold a closed hearing, according to an Order filed November 24, in which Chairman Gary Vause directed the parties not to disseminate information on how to join the hearing via Zoom.
“The meeting I.D. and/or URL should not be shared with anyone other than counsel/parties and witnesses, as the virtual hearing room will be monitored and locked, and only those who have requested and been granted access to the hearing will be permitted,” Vause wrote in the Order.
Rule 22 of the 2018 Revised Procedural Rules of JDC states a “formal hearing shall be held in public before the Commission.”
“I am concerned about the possible motivations for this rogue commission’s attempt to, among a host of other things, continue this cloak of secrecy to the extent that they would even prevent the public from a hearing where the truth would be exposed,” Tobiasson’s attorney, Marc Cook, said in a statement to the Current.
The Commission’s Executive Director, Paul Deyhle, did not respond to requests for comment on the apparent violation of the JDC’s own rules.
Cook said his client “is dismayed by the commission’s disregard for, and violation of the constitutional, statutory and procedural rules governing them.”
He says the Commission has “consistently created and relied on non-existent rules in order to justify denying legitimate motions filed on (Tobiasson’s) behalf.”
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