Monday, Sept. 8, 2008 | 2 a.m.
A court case that caused a big public stir several years ago, involving top Las Vegas figures and allegations of elder abuse and cronyism, died a quiet death when the case finally settled late last year.
In August 2004, local attorneys Louis Palazzo and Ross Goodman filed a lawsuit against an 85-year-old woman over a downtown real estate deal gone bad.
Palazzo and Goodman, son of Mayor Oscar Goodman, claimed Christine Von Sturm had backed out of an oral agreement that allowed their company, Palco Promotions, to extend the escrow period for property at 511 and 515 Las Vegas Blvd. South, once home of the British Bulldog pub.
Von Sturm, her daughter, Christina De Musee, and their attorneys countered with allegations that Ross Goodman and Palazzo had knowingly exploited an elderly, clinically delusional woman in an effort to gain the property.
It got uglier from there.
Metro Police investigated the elder abuse allegations. The state Ethics Commission investigated whether Mayor Goodman violated ethics laws by using his office to help his son buy the property in question, which is near a city redevelopment area.
Neither investigation found sufficient evidence to bring charges.
After the Ethics Commission dropped its probe in July 2005, the matter slipped from public view.
But the underlying suit, filed in District Court in Las Vegas, hadn’t been resolved. That wouldn’t happen until Oct. 15, 2007.
The terms of the settlement were kept confidential, according an attorney for De Musee, Ted Cohen of Beverly Hills, Calif.
Noting the seal on the terms of the settlement, he declined further comment, except to note that Von Sturm had died a few months before the agreement was reached with De Musee.
No other principals in the case, including Palazzo and Ross Goodman, or their attorney, Walter Cannon, returned calls. Mayor Goodman could not be reached.
De Musee, of Palm Desert, Calif., also could not be reached.
Indeed, a casual observer curious to see whether the case had been resolved would not be able find out in the public court file at the Regional Justice Center downtown.
In the electronic case docket, which has more than 90 entries and dates to 2004, no mention is made of activity on Oct. 15, 2007, the day the case was resolved.
A call to an assistant of District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez confirmed a settlement had taken place.
Although the case settled as it was about to go trial, the court file shows a tough fight was brewing.
One of the main questions in the case was whether Von Sturm, originally of Nice, France, was mentally competent to have agreed to a legally binding oral agreement.
According to a psychiatrist retained by her attorneys, the answer was no.
The psychiatrist, Louise Sherk, diagnosed Von Sturm in 2005 with Alzheimer’s-related dementia, with late-onset delusional behavior.
“The dementia has been progressive over a period of years and began well before April 29, 2004,” Sherk concluded in a written appraisal filed with the court, referring to the date of the property sale agreement with Ross Goodman and Palazzo.
“Ms. Von Sturm was mentally unable to make coherent logical decisions concerning the sale of her property on that date,” Sherk concluded.
Ross Goodman and Palazzo hired their own psychiatrist to evaluate Von Sturm’s mental state, though that doctor’s appraisal could not be located in the court files.
Ross Goodman and Palazzo also hired well-known local private investigator Tom Dillard. In court papers, he was listed as being set to testify had the case gone to trial. It is unclear what he had been investigating.
Dillard wouldn’t comment, other than to say he didn’t know the case was settled.
The mayor’s role in the case, if any, was never clear. Von Sturm’s attorneys said Mayor Goodman had used his position to intimidate legal opponents of his son’s by allowing his name to be listed on his son’s law firm’s stationery.
Mayor Goodman was listed as an “of counsel” attorney with his son’s firm. The mayor told an Ethics Commission official he did not remember talking about the purchase of the Von Sturm property with Palazzo or his son.
Ultimately, it is unclear what will become of the land and the surrounding parcels downtown near Las Vegas Boulevard and Clark Avenue.
The property is next to several city-owned parcels used for parking near the federal courthouse. It’s cater-cornered to the recently renovated, city-owned Fifth Street School.
Palco Promotions had offered $1.4 million for Von Sturm’s property. But it is unclear whether, under the terms of the secret settlement, De Musee agreed to sell the property to Palazzo and Ross Goodman — who own a hotel next to the Von Sturm property. And if so, for how much.
Or perhaps, whether the agreement allowed for the joint sale of their combined property in which both sides would share the proceeds.
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