Arson indictment against Quon, Webb dismissed
District Judge Douglas Herndon on Thursday dismissed an indictment charging construction defects attorney Nancy Quon and her boyfriend, ex-police officer William Ronald Webb, in an October 2010 suspicious fire at her home.
After a 90-minute hearing, Herndon ruled that District Judge Linda Bell had abused her discretion by allowing prosecutors to move forward with the case after a previous panel had refused to file arson and insurance fraud charges.
Herndon said Bell should have gotten more detailed information from prosecutors about their intentions before allowing them to go back to a new grand jury.
"I think Linda Bell is an extraordinary judge, but I think when you receive (a request), you’ve got to ask for more," Herndon said.
Herndon said it looked to him that the evidence prosecutors presented to the new panel supported an arson indictment, but the process of winning permission to present it was violated.
"I can’t fault the state," Herndon said. "I have to fault Judge Bell."
Bell, who oversees the grand jury process and regularly accepts indictments in court, declined comment.
Herndon acknowledged that the statute on resubmitting cases was vague, and he said he hoped his decision would be appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court to provide more legal guidance for prosecutors and judges.
An earlier grand jury case charging Quon, 51, and Webb, 43, in a drug conspiracy tied to a possible suicide scheme on Quon’s part will move forward, Herndon said.
Quon, a high-profile attorney who made millions of dollars as a pioneer in the field of construction defect law, also is the target of a high-profile federal investigation into fraud and corruption at Las Vegas Valley homeowners associations.
Justice Department prosecutors from Washington, D.C., have been striking plea deals with lower-level players in the massive scheme to take over homeowners associations. The scheme involved stacking homeowners association boards with friendly members who would hand out legal work and construction defect contracts to co-conspirators.
Local police and prosecutors have contended that Quon was trying to kill herself to escape the pressure of the far-reaching federal investigation, which has targeted lawyers, judges and former police officers.
After Thursday’s hearing, Chief Deputy District Attorney Sandra DiGiacomo appeared stunned with Herndon’s decision, declining to comment on whether her office will appeal to the state Supreme Court.
DiGiacomo also has the option of taking the case to yet another grand jury.
Outside the courtroom, DiGiacomo huddled behind closed doors in a witness room for about 10 minutes with the lead detective in the arson case and investigators in the federal probe, all of whom were on hand for the arguments.
Quon’s lawyer, Thomas Pitaro, said he was "very happy" with the ruling.
"It was the correct decision," Pitaro said. "The court recognized that there has to be limitations on the grand jury. They have to give a sufficient factual basis to resubmit a case."
Pitaro argued in court that the case against Quon was "an abusive process from the very beginning."
DiGiacomo insisted that she followed the law in her request by informing Bell that she had new witnesses and intended to present the evidence in a different manner.
Quon was originally indicted in April on a single felony count of conspiracy to violate the Uniform Controlled Substances Act. The indictment charged that Quon provided the cash for Webb, who spent 17 years with the Metropolitan Police Department, to unlawfully buy 29.2 grams of the club drug gama-hydroxybutyric acid from undercover detectives. Police contended that Quon was trying to arrange her own death with the drugs, which the couple incorrectly thought would be undetectable.
Webb also was charged with conspiracy to commit murder, but the grand jury refused to charge Webb and Quon in the fire that caused some $300,000 in damage to Quon’s Rhodes Ranch home.
With Bell’s permission, DiGiacomo later presented the arson evidence to a new grand jury.
That panel indicted both Quon and Webb in the arson conspiracy in August. Quon was charged with five felonies, including first-degree arson, conspiracy to commit arson and insurance fraud.
Prosecutors alleged Quon set fire to her home in a botched suicide scheme, but she has denied plotting the fire and trying to kill herself.
Contact reporter Jeff German at jgerman@review journal.com or 702-380-8135.
