Court rules lawmaker can proceed with defamation suit

By Cy Ryan

Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015 | 3:55 p.m.

CARSON CITY — The Nevada Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that state Sen. Ben Kieckhefer of Reno can move forward with a defamation suit against an opponent in the 2014 GOP primary election.

The court refused an appeal by Gary Schmidt to dismiss the case.

In TV ads before the primary, Schmidt claimed that Kieckhefer endorsed Democratic Sen. Harry Reid for re-election in 2010. He said he based his claim on a story in the Las Vegas Sun.

Kieckhefer argues that the newspaper article said he endorsed Republican state Sen. William Raggio for majority leader, despite Raggio’s support of Reid. He said there was nothing to show he backed Reid.

The unanimous decision written by Chief Justice James Hardesty said, “There is no rational way to read the Las Vegas Sun article without concluding Kieckhefer supported Raggio for majority leader.”

The ruling said Schmidt did not act in good faith when he claimed Kieckhefer supported Reid.

The decision allows Kieckhefer to proceed with his suit in District Court.