Man accused of trying to extort Las Vegas traffic court judge
A 63-year-old man stands accused of trying to extort a judge who presided over his traffic court hearing in August, according to an arrest report.
Kim Dennis Blandino attempted to negotiate a “settlement” with the temporary judge who presided over his Aug. 28 Las Vegas Municipal Court hearing for traffic offenses, of which he was found guilty, a Las Vegas city marshal alleged in Blandino’s arrest report.
“There were continual disruptions, (outbursts), and disorderly courtroom behavior from Blandino during trial,” the marshal wrote after viewing courtroom footage of his trial. “Judge … admonished Blandino several times for his behavior, but still allowed him breaks to drink water and proceed pro se.”
Blandino asked the judge, whose name is redacted from the report, to apologize in writing for his “activities” on the bench that day, and to pay $25 for the cost of a courtroom recording and to either complete a judicial ethics class in Reno or pay $500 to the Clark County Law Library, the report said.
In exchange, Blandino said he would not file what the marshal characterized as “multiple and various allegations with the Commission on Judicial Discipline, which in truth and fact are false” or file a judicial misconduct complaint with the FBI, the report said.
About 10:30 a.m. on April 8, “Blandino appeared unannounced” at the judge’s private law office and dropped off a two-page, handwritten letter saying he was ready to start filing complaints against the judge in response to the August hearing, according to the report.
On April 25, Blandino showed up to the courtroom with the judge on the bench, and the judge ordered him out of the courtroom due to his behavior at his law office and the “settlement” demand letter, the report said. Blandino then returned to the private law office and dropped off another letter, noting he was trying to get a settlement with a Las Vegas hearing master whose name was redacted from the report.
Blandino was jailed Tuesday in the Clark County Detention Center. On Wednesday, Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Elana Graham granted him the possibility of house arrest on the condition he make $75,000 bail and have no contact with Michael Federico and Shannon Nordstrom, two attorneys in the Las Vegas Valley. Blandino also was told to stay away from the Regional Justice Center unless he is attending his own court hearings.
Biographies online for Federico and Nordstrom indicate they serve as alternate judges in Las Vegas Municipal Court.
Messages seeking comment from Federico and Nordstrom were not immediately returned Wednesday afternoon.
Blandino made headlines in the early 1990s after he was convicted of kidnapping for taking his two young sons from their mother in Las Vegas.
He appealed his case to the Nevada Supreme Court, claiming that his decision to waive his right to an attorney was invalid because he did not fully understand the maximum punishment under the law and that he was prosecuted for his religious beliefs, including the belief that his wife and children were his property, according to a 1997 Las Vegas Review-Journal story.
Blandino was sentenced to six years in prison for the abduction, which lasted eight months. The high court upheld his conviction in a 4-0 ruling.
NOTE: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the Las Vegas justice of the peace hearing the case.
Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.