If Controller Kathy Augustine ends up facing an impeachment trial before the Nevada Senate, there's a chance longtime criminal defense attorney Oscar Goodman might be the prosecutor.
Augustine's counsel Dominic Gentile has already objected to the Attorney General's Office handling the case either in the Assembly or Senate, saying they have a conflict of interest. The biggest problem there, Gentile says, is that a deputy attorney general represented and counseled Augustine briefly when the investigation into her conduct began.
While the Senate hasn't yet decided whether there will be a prosecutor if that trial happens, Gentile's objection may well mean naming a special prosecutor.
Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, said Wednesday he consulted with Las Vegas Mayor Goodman about how to handle the case since Goodman is "the only attorney I know in the state of Nevada who has handled an impeachment." Goodman represented former U.S. District Judge Harry Claiborne in his impeachment by the U.S. Congress.
Perkins said Goodman indicated he might be willing to handle the case as special prosecutor if lawmakers want him to.
"That was my conversation with him," said Perkins, adding that if Goodman was willing to take the case "pro bono," it could also save the state money.
Goodman could not be reached for comment. If he is named special prosecutor, that would pit two of the highest-profile and arguably best defense lawyers in Nevada against each other to decide Augustine's fate.
Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at nevadaappeal@sbcglobal.net or 687-8750.
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