Experienced prosecutor and public defender running for Henderson judge seat

In Henderson, a veteran prosecutor and an experienced public defender are competing for the city’s Department 1 Justice Court seat.

Sandy DiGiacomo and Marla Renteria have had careers on opposing sides of the court system, but see similar issues: court navigation and a need for special programming like a mental health court.

DiGiacomo has been a criminal prosecutor for more than 25 years. She spent most of that time at the Clark County district attorney’s office. In 2022, she started working at the Henderson city attorney’s office, where she said she’s part of the management team and supervises the investigative and victim advocate units.

Renteria, who manages the public defender’s domestic violence unit and advises non-citizen defendants about the consequences of their plea negotiations, has mainly practiced in the Las Vegas Justice Court and said she’s never practiced in Henderson Justice Court.

She said she decided to run because of frustration about judges who didn’t understand seem to understand the challenges of the people appearing before them. And sometimes it seemed like “judges didn’t have the courage to follow the law if it ran contrary to what might be a political force,” she said.

Renteria said interpreter services should be more broadly available. She thinks the Justice Court needs specialty courts like a drug court and a mental health court that target “the root causes of criminal behavior.” In her responses to the Review-Journal’s voter guide questionnaire, she also said the court should introduce telephone and online payment systems and expand the use of virtual appearances.

Currently, the court only accepts online payments for traffic cases, according to its page on the county website.

DiGiacomo said she wants to be a judge to give back to her community and thinks she’s at the right point in her career to bring the things she’s learned in her career to the bench.

It’s important “to try and render expeditious resolutions,” she said. “Not continue things, not take it under advisement for months. You need to basically keep the calendars moving and keep people’s lives moving.”

DiGiacomo said the court’s caseload has increased and it should add more criminal calendars for each judge. Like her opponent, she thinks it would be good to have a mental health court. And she wants to add free help centers to assist people in navigating the court system.

Asked why voters should choose her, Renteria said she understands what the average person is going through.

“I come from humble beginnings in Reno,” she said. “I’m Mexican-American, so I have immigrant family members that have had to struggle in this country, so I know what that’s like. I’ve had to put myself through school while raising my son on my own. I know what that experience is like. I know what it’s like to go paycheck to paycheck and hope you make it to the next paycheck.”

She also said that as a criminal defense lawyer, she starts “with the belief the person is innocent,” whereas prosecutors rely on what police tell them. But she’s also able to understand prosecutors’ positions and would keep in mind community safety when deciding whether to incarcerate someone, she said.

DiGiacomo said she’s the best candidate because she has the experience and mindset to be a judge.

“I’m pushing 90 jury trials,” she said. “I’ve done hundreds of preliminary hearings, hundreds of bench trials.”

She said she knows how to look at both sides and figure out the most just resolution, not just “zealously represent” a client.

“I have dismissed cases against defendants before because I thought we had the wrong person or they did not commit the crime,” she said.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.