| ► Judge Doug Smith of Las Vegas; lifetime porker, bully |
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Judge Doug Smith of Las Vegas; lifetime porker, bully 
The state of Nevada presented Douglas E. Smith with a law license in 1983 after he graduated from Whittier Law School.
In 2008, Doug succeeded in duping the voters in the greater Las Vegas area into electing him as an Eighth Judicial District Court Judge.
Over the past twenty-nine (29) years, Doug has had his significant snout firmly implanted in the public trough. Prior to 2008, Doug was employed as a Clark County assistant prosecutor and public defender and/or Justice of the Peace.
In one matter, Doug decided to cement his status as a moronic bully as it involved defendant Juan Perez.
After being treated at University Medical Center after a car crash, nurses discovered that Juan had two baggies containing 20 or more grams of cocaine. He was then charged with trafficking cocaine. Juan posted $3,000 bail and was released from jail. He then hired veteran defense lawyer John Momet. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Three years after Juan’s arrest, Momet withdrew as his attorney. Shortly thereafter, Juan appeared before Judge Smith. During this appearance, the following colloquy took place between Smith and Juan.
Judge: “Your attorney has withdrawn. How come you haven’t stayed in contact with your attorney?”
Juan: “Not helping me.”
Judge: “No, he withdrew.”
Juan: “Okay. I’ll have to get another lawyer.”
Judge: “What?
Juan: “I’ll have to get another lawyer.”
Judge: “Well, good, we’ll find you one.”
Juan: “Thank you.”
Judge: “You’re remanded [jailed]. Thank you. An attitude like that, you can sit in jail.”
At a subsequent hearing, Judge Smith described Juan as having a “terrible, terrible attitude in court.” This caused Juan to apologize and he then asked to be released on the original $3,000 bail, which had been previously approved by a Las Vegas justice of the peace. Stand bail for a drug trafficking count is $10,000.
Initially, Smith refused to set bail so that Juan could get out of jail; however, he then relented and illegally set bail at $1 million.
Juan’s lawyer then appealed Smith’s illegal bail of $1 million to the Court of Appeals. The appellate court ruled that Judge Smith had violated Juan’s constitutional rights and abused his discretion “by remanding Juan to custody and setting bail at an excessive amount in order to punish him for having an “attitude” during a court proceeding.
Of course a cursory reading of the colloquy between Juan and Smith as aforementioned clearly proves that Juan didn’t display a “terrible attitude in court” as Smith the Lair claimed he did.
As we speak (ca. December 2013), Judge Smith continues to sit as a Circuit Court Judge in Las Vegas.
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