Judge removes herself from Quon-Webb case
At the request of prosecutors, District Judge Michelle Leavitt Thursday took herself off the arson-suicide case against construction defects attorney Nancy Quon and her boyfriend.
Leavitt ordered the case transferred to District Judge Douglas Herndon, who has the original drug conspiracy case against Quon and William Ronald Webb, a former Las Vegas police officer.
The drug charges also are contained in the new case, so Herndon will have to decide whether to dismiss the older case. He has scheduled an Oct. 4 hearing.
At a brief hearing, however, Quon’s attorney, Thomas Pitaro, told Leavitt that he probably would file court papers to dismiss the new case because of what he called “constitutional and serious problems” with the way prosecutors conducted the investigation.
Quon faces five felony charges in the new case, including first-degree arson, conspiracy to commit arson and insurance fraud stemming from a Oct. 28 fire, that caused $250,000 to $300,000 in damage to her Rhodes Ranch home.
Prosecutors allege Quon, 51, set the fire in a botched suicide attempt and participated in another suicide plot that involved obtaining illegal drugs, all in an effort to escape the pressure of a federal investigation into fraud and corruption at homeowners associations.
Justice Department prosecutors from Washington, D.C., have been working out plea deals with key players aimed at obtaining indictments against Quon and other top targets.
Quon has denied setting the fire and trying to kill herself.
Contact reporter Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.
