Exploitation charges against attorney quietly dropped

Charges were quietly dropped against Las Vegas attorney Jill Hanlon, who had been accused of victimizing an elderly man when she was his attorney in 2005 and 2006. The charges were dismissed in August in open court at the request of Senior Deputy Attorney General David Rickert.

Until last week, the possibility existed new charges could be filed.

Hanlon had been charged in May with one count of elder exploitation and two counts of filing a false document. The complaint alleged she charged Richard Sage $16,800 for 10 hours work, or $1,680 an hour.

"That started the crumbling and cracking of this case," said her attorney George Kelesis.

She had a $1,400 a month retainer, but the state investigator lumped it all together like it was a bill for 10 hours of work over one month, not a retainer over 14 months, Kelesis said.

The case is still pending against Hanlon’s former co-defendant, Jamal Eljwaidi. He is charged with six separate counts of elder exploitation and accused of defrauding Sage of more than $400,000 in a real estate investment. Hanlon represented Sage.

Eljwaidi’s trial is set for April 26 before District Judge Ken Cory.

When I first called in December about the criminal case against Hanlon being dismissed, Carolyn Ellsworth, an attorney with the secretary of state’s securities fraud office, said it was still possible that charges could be filed against Hanlon because the dismissal was without prejudice.

Last week, Ellsworth reviewed more materials and decided there is nothing more to submit to the attorney general to warrant refiling.

Ellsworth rejected Kelesis’ portrayal of the investigator as overly zealous and said the investigator took the facts to a deputy attorney general before submitting the original case. It was approved, so the investigator wasn’t some rogue.

In newspapers, the headlines are always bigger when charges are filed than when they are dismissed. Hanlon deserves fairness when charges are dropped. So I’m making sure she gets it in this column.

WASTED DAYS AND WASTED NIGHTS: Amber Candelaria seemed to be wasting taxpayer resources.

Candelaria decided to run for a new Las Vegas justice of the peace seat in Department 14. The other candidates are Colby Beck, Conrad Hafen and Bernie Zadrowski.

But it looks like she hasn’t been an attorney for five years, one of the requirements to run.

The five years of experience starts with admittance to the bar, according to Matt Griffin, elections deputy for Secretary of State Ross Miller.

Candelaria was admitted to the bar on Oct. 17, 2006.

One of her opponents, Zadrowski, challenged whether she qualifies for the ballot, and the DA’s office has filed a complaint to remove her from the ballot.

A 2006 graduate of the Boyd Law School at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Candelaria is director of the Civil Law Self-Help Center at the Regional Justice Center. She is relying on a bill for her dues from the State Bar of Nevada saying she has been admitted for five years. Really. A bill is her "evidence."

Unless she has something else to offer, she is going to have a tough time convincing Judge James Bixler.

Candelaria said Friday she’s not wasting taxpayer dollars; she’s challenging the constitutionality of a law passed in 2005 by the Legislature setting requirements that judicial candidates have a certain number of years experience.

If she wins on constitutional grounds and overturns the law, then she’s the heroine of all those who say judges don’t need any experience.

But if she loses, she’ll be remembered for wasting taxpayer dollars.

Sometimes you need to pick your fights wisely. This one is a non-winner for Candelaria, no matter what happens.

Jane Ann Morrison’s column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/morrison.