LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – A Las Vegas-area judge has been removed from all her criminal cases after she accused a public defender of sleeping with her client.
Judge Erika Ballou, who oversees Department 24 in Clark County Eighth Judicial District Court, will relinquish all her criminal cases to Department 9 Judge Maria Gall, according to an administrative order by the court. In turn, random civil cases from other departments will be reassigned to Judge Ballou.
The change comes less than a week after a Las Vegas-area public defender filed a motion accusing Judge Ballou of bias against her.
The lawyer, Anna Stone, asked to have Judge Ballou removed from cases assigned to Stone after the judge allegedly accused Stone of sleeping with her client.
According to the filing by Stone, Judge Ballou told Stone she had an “attitude” and while sitting on the bench, Judge Ballou “directly accused [Stone] of f—- [her] client, alleging [she] was having a sexual relationship with the defendant.” This was reportedly said in front of the District Attorney, another public defender and other court staff.
“No person should have to worry that the judge deciding their case might wrongfully accuse them of having sex with their lawyer when they are simply arguing for the best interest of their client,” the lawyer’s filing said. “No lawyer should have to advocate in fear that if the judge dislikes their advocacy the judge will retaliate by sexually harassing them and their client.”
This isn’t Judge Ballou’s only misconduct complaint. According to a filing by the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline, Judge Ballou was accused of defying a Supreme Court order in connection with a criminal case she oversaw.
FOX5 has reached out to the Clark County District Attorney’s Office for a response and whether the reassignments will impact the timeline of ongoing, reassigned cases.
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