Chairez complains about Berkley TV ad

But Berkley's campaign said it would not retract the ad that claims Chairez was soft on criminals when he was a district judge.

The spat is the latest in a volley of barbs between the two candidates running for the House seat being vacated by Rep. John Ensign, who's vying for the U.S. Senate.

Berkley's commercial cites the case of convicted sex offender Maynard Humphrey, who pleaded guilty in 1997 to sexually assaulting senior patients at the Boulder City Hospital.

Humphrey was a nursing assistant at the hospital when the crimes were committed.

The advertisement correctly states that Chairez reduced Humphrey's life sentence to a 25-year sentence. It then goes on to say: "Don Chairez - attacks Shelley Berkley but goes easy on criminals."

Chairez said what the ad fails to mention is that he originally sentenced Humphrey to the life sentence, but was later forced to reduce the term after being reminded of a plea agreeement between prosecutors and Humphrey's lawyers.

"I had forgotten about the plea agreement at the time," Chairez said. "When I sentenced him to life, it was based on my gut reaction that that was what this guy deserves ... the commercial is blatantly misleading."

Deputy District Attorney Teresa Lowery, who negotiated the Humphrey plea agreement, agreed the advertisement should be retracted.

"I was offended (by the ad)," Lowry said.

But Berkley campaign spokesman Richard Urey said Berkley would not pull the ad because the Humphrey case shows Chairez was incompetent as a judge.

Chairez should have known details of the plea agreement before sentencing Humphrey to life, he said.

"If you are incompetent, it puts you in a position where you have to reduce a sentence," Urey said. "The end result is going easy on a serial rapist who victimized some of the most defenseless people in our society."

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