Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2000 | 11:15 a.m.
Michael McDonald's attorney thinks he will have a hard time defending the Las Vegas councilman at an ethics hearing because he said the court of public opinion has already reached a verdict.
Richard Wright lambasted Metro Police's handling of McDonald's case on the Sun's news discussion program "POV Vegas" on Tuesday.
"I'm afraid to some extent the public, the media has prejudged this matter before we even have a hearing," Wright told host Mark Shaffer.
The city's Ethics Review Board last week voted unanimously to hold a hearing Nov. 8 into allegations McDonald misused his office by lobbying for the sale of Las Vegas Sportspark and by trying to thwart permits for a would-be adult club.
The review board's attorney, Frank Cremen, has revised a citizen complaint against McDonald to focus on three possible violations of the city's ethics law.
District Attorney Stewart Bell decided not to prosecute McDonald even though Metro asked him to convene a grand jury to allow witnesses the opportunity to testify without fear of reprisal.
But Wright said Bell's decision was correct because a vindictive police department was bent on attacking McDonald, a former police officer.
As an example, Wright cited the public release of Metro's investigation, which he described as being "bound" and "passed out like they were best sellers."
He also blasted Metro's detective work, attacking investigators for summarizing witness interviews and discrediting some witnesses' credibility without attaching the full transcripts.
"I know how Metro works," Wright said. "They bury anything that doesn't help Metro, and they will release something that is beneficial to Metro or punishes an enemy like Mr. McDonald."
In the report, Metro lists several witnesses who claim McDonald visited Sportspark in May in an attempt to broker the sale of the beleaguered recreation center. McDonald maintains he was only visiting it to find a site for a charity softball tournament.
Police interviewed other charity board members and determined McDonald was the only person who knew anything about a tournament.
But Wright said he wondered why police discredited statements by the Rev. Dave Casaleggio, a priest who supports McDonald and who has told reporters he knew the visit to Sportspark was related to the charity.
"They don't back up this garbage that they put in the report to impugn Councilman McDonald," Wright said.
Wright said he thinks his client was "tarred and feathered" by Metro's handling of the case, and thinks Bell's decision not to prosecute was telling proof the police went after McDonald.
To Wright, Bell's decision said: "Look Sheriff, I'll cover your skirts at least to the point of saying there was probable cause for you to invest eight weeks of police activity on this.
"But if you want to continue with this tit-for-tat silliness where you are going after Mr. McDonald, leave the District Attorney's office out of it. You go on your own," Wright said.
Metro has consistently deflected Wright's criticism by saying police found enough evidence to arrest McDonald.
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