Las Vegas NowJudge Halverson Speaks Exclusively With The I-Team

Judge Halverson Speaks Exclusively With The I-Team

Beleaguered Judge Elizabeth Halverson has made her first extended public comments since being removed from the bench amid allegations of misconduct.

She's currently suspended, but she's denying doing anything inappropriate and she says she is the victim in all of this. Judge Halverson agreed to an exclusive interview with the Channel 8 I-Team.

A lot of allegations have been leveled at Judge Halverson in a supposedly confidential discipline process, but not much of it has remained confidential.

The most salacious allegations involve how she supposedly treated her staff members. And in particular, whether she ever ordered her bailiff to give her a foot rub. The judge says she's been humiliated by the rumors spread by courthouse foes who were out to hurt her.

Judge Halverson said, "I went campaigning just as I am. I never hid it. I never told anyone, hey, I'm this beautiful size 8 woman who's perfect. I never told anyone that. I went as I am. I use oxygen. I am on a scooter. I don't have the best knee in the world, but I still have a great head and I still have a great heart, and I can still do this job."

It could be said that, for the first time, Elizabeth Halverson is playing the disability card. While the rest of the world has snickered about her weight and condition with some lawyers referring to her as "Jabba the Judge," she's declined to mention it. Not anymore.

Halverson thinks one reason she's under attack is because she simply doesn't look like what people think a judge should look like. She has serious health problems, including hypoglycemia, which led to one of the charges against her -- falling asleep on the bench.

"I had a hypoglycemic attack on 2/13 and there is an e-mail from Mrs. Spoor that verifies that I did not eat or drink on that day and I had a two-minute hypoglycemic attack, that I could hear what was going on but could not speak. I took some sugary substances. I was fine. It never had it happen again in court," Halverson stated.

The most sensationalized charges against Halverson involve her alleged treatment of employees -- calling them names, ordering them to perform menial tasks or errands, including the infamous foot rub. Halverson says her physical limitations and the lack of handicap access in the new Regional Justice Center have made her rely greatly on staffers to do things for her.

Her lawyer Bill Gamage says it is common for bailiffs to do extra things for their judges. Halverson says she made it clear when she hired her bailiff that she would need extra help but she denies going overboard.

George Knapp: "Ever request anyone to give you a foot rub?"

Elizabeth Halverson: "Remember what I just told you about the osteoarthritis? I can't have my feet touched. My husband can't. I can't walk around barefooted. I didn't have to have assistance. I did hire my bail assistant specifically for assistance with disability issues because, for instance, the scooter wouldn't fit into the chambers."

George Knapp: "So, you needed someone strong?"

Elizabeth Halverson: "I needed somebody strong. I can't walk all the time. Sometimes my feet are swollen. I can't walk all the time. So I'd say, can you go get my shoes? One day, once, out of three months that he worked for me, and he went and got my shoes, he sat down and started rubbing my feet. I said what are you doing? This is inappropriate and you need to stop. That's it. It lasted all of 30 seconds. I told him to stop and he stopped."

Attorney Gamage says the discipline commission did not allow him to subpoena witnesses he could have used to rebut some of the statements made during the hearing, but what bothers him most is that this was supposed to be a confidential matter, yet there was a steady stream of news reports about the most damaging statements given to the commission by courthouse employees.

Bill Gamage said, "I keep telling anyone who will listen, this is the most public confidential hearing I've ever seen."

Perhaps the most heated differences were between Halverson and her former assistant Ileen Spoor, the woman who had the file of traffic tickets from friends and family, tickets that were fixed.

Spoor is one of those who testified against the judge at the hearing.

Beleaguered Judge Elizabeth Halverson has made her first extended public comments since being removed from the bench amid allegations of misconduct.

She's currently suspended, but she's denying doing anything inappropriate and she says she is the victim in all of this. Judge Halverson agreed to an exclusive interview with the Channel 8 I-Team.

E-mail your comments to Investigative Reporter George Knapp.