Mayor loses bid to stop Miller suit

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court Tuesday refused to reconsider its prior decision ordering a trial in a libel suit by former Las Vegas Councilman Steve Miller against Mayor Jan Laverty Jones.

Without comment, the court rejected the petition by attorneys for Jones for a rehearing.

In its original decision, the court ruled 3-2 that Miller should be able to present his claim to a jury that he had been defamed while he was running against Jones for mayor in 1991.

A summary judgment in favor of the mayor had been rendered in District Court, along with an order for Miller to pay $20,000 in costs to Jones. But the Supreme Court overturned that and directed the case to go to trial.

Four days before the May 7, 1991, election, the campaign staff of Jones distributed a flier that included a reproduction of a story in the Sun. The story said Miller had informed police a small amount of what appeared to be cocaine had been discovered in a Porsche he had bought for a family member.

The substance was discovered while the car was in a body shop, and Miller told the shop owner not to touch anything until police arrived. The newspaper article quoted Metro Police Detective Ken Wellington as saying he believed Miller was dishonest by giving false information.

The story also reported that Wellington's superior stated he thought Wellington had "read too much" into his conservation with Miller. But that part of the newspaper article, which had been favorable to Miller, was deleted from the campaign flier.

Miller, who has become a bitter foe of Jones, did not take issue with the newspaper story but with the literature distributed by the Jones campaign staff.

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