District Court judge accused of violating code of conduct in Nevada
A District Court judge is accused of defying the Nevada Supreme Court and violating the Nevada Code of Judicial Conduct.
Judge Erika Ballou faces six counts from the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline, according to a complaint filed Thursday.
Ballou previously admitted to violating the Nevada Code of Judicial Conduct for “inappropriate” social media posts, according to court documents.
Thursday’s complaint centers on Ballou’s handling of the criminal case of Mia Christman and accusations that she defied higher court’s rulings.
“Throughout her involvement in the Christman cases, Judge Ballou exhibited a pattern of conduct that demonstrated a clear bias in favor of Christman and against the State,” the complaint reads. “This bias was evidenced through a combination of actions, omissions, and on-the-record statements that, taken together, reflect a departure from the standard of impartiality required of a Nevada judicial officer.”
A District Court representative from her office directed comments to Ballou’s attorney, Thomas Pitaro, who was not available to comment Monday.
Christman case
Christman pleaded guilty in 2017 to robbery with a deadly weapon and failing to stop on a police officer’s signal. She was sentenced to two consecutive terms of up to 15 years in prison, with parole eligibility after five years, according to court records.
Ballou had her released from custody before the completion of her sentence and then failed to remand Christman back into custody when the Supreme Court overturned her decision.
In August 2022, the Supreme Court remanded the case back to District Court, reversing Ballou’s order granting a post-conviction petition and ordering the case to continue with “proceedings consistent with this order,” according to court records.
Ballou did not order Christman to be re-incarcerated and scheduled another hearing to reopen consideration of the issue, which violates Nevada’s law-of the-case doctrine, according to Thursday’s complaint.
The state objected for months, the complaint said. It filed a writ of mandamus for Ballou to rule in favor of the state and return Christman to custody. The Supreme Court granted the petition in October 2023, according to the complaint.
Ballou “continued to fail” to do so, the complaint said.
Ballou continued to issue rulings in Christman’s case, even after prosecutors filed a motion to recuse her. According to the order, a judge is not permitted to make rulings on a case until a recusal motion is resolved.
On May 2, 2024, Ballou granted a motion from Christman’s defense, which sought to vacate the remaining prison sentence the Supreme Court had ordered her to serve, the motion said.
The next day, the Supreme Court issued an order directing the District Court to place another judge on the case.
The case was reassigned to District Judge Eric Johnson, who ruled in favor of the state and remanded Christman to prison, according to Thursday’s complaint.
He also ruled that Ballou violated Nevada law by issuing the minute orders while the motion to recuse her was pending, the complaint said.
Prior controversy
Ballou was elected in 2020 after she declined to raise any money for the race or visibly campaign.
She made headlines in 2022, when the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, the union for rank-and-file Metropolitan Police Department officers, called for her resignation over comments Ballou made in court about police officers.
The union alleged she had violated the Nevada Code of Judicial Conduct when she told a defendant: “You’re a Black man in America, you know you don’t want to be nowhere where cops are.”
In January 2024, a complaint with the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline alleged that Ballou had violated the code of judicial conduct in social media posts.
One post contained a photo of Ballou posed in a hot tub with two public defenders, along with a caption the complaint alleged was inappropriate. Another post, which Ballou had appeared to make from the Life is Beautiful music festival, suggested that hearings for out-of-custody defendants should be vacated, according to the complaint.
Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ktfutts on X and @katiefutterman.bsky.social.