Dishonor In The Courtroom Or Newsroom?

The Las Vegas Review Journal has been a running soap opera in the Clark County court system, in which Judge Steven Jones and fired DA assistant Lisa Willardson have been caring on a dating relationship while Willardson was a DA in Jone's courtroom. The articles contain a lot of hyperbole but few facts.
As a disclaimer, I have been in the Family court system in Clark County, before Judge's Bill Henderson and Gloria Sanchez and have been treated quite fairly, even though my ex was represented by lawyers and I represented myself.
I don't know who Jones is, nor Willardson, I am just comenting on the articles that have been written.
So, the LVRJ has been all over this story with several articles and printed another article today in which the writer of the article, Jeff German, throws out some mighty big accusations.
For instance: On another occasion, Jones came to watch Willardson make a courtroom appearance before a hearing master who works under the judge, Stuart said.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/more-allegations-surface-in-relationship-of-judge-fired-prosecutor-135899938.html
So, German, through his ESP powers, determined that Jones was there to see Willardson instead of supervising his employee? Maybe, with German's ESP, he can let me know who is going to win the Super Bowl this year.
Another tidbit: In a sworn affidavit, a county social worker alleged that she saw Willardson lose her focus in the middle of a case before another judicial official on Nov. 22 while Willardson and Jones were repeatedly text messaging each other.
In one of the courtroom texts, Willardson told Jones that he was "hot," said Georgina Stuart, a senior family services specialist assigned to Child Protective Services. No where in the article does it say how the social worker knew the texts were from Jones. Was she looking over Willardson's shoulder while the court session was ongoing? Did she steal the phone? How did she know what was in the text messages?
Another shocker: On another front, Willardson's former supervisor, Chief Deputy District Attorney Ron Cordes, said in a sworn affidavit that he was investigating a request to "reopen or dismiss" a case Willardson had brought against a "litigant" in Jones' court because of a possible conflict of interest over Willardson's relationship with the judge.
"I am in the process of determining whether the case was litigated during the period of time where a conflict may have existed," Cordes said.
He said the litigant told him Thursday that he filed a motion in the case, but Jones denied the motion though Willardson had not filed an opposition.
The reporter never tells us what the motion was. Was it a legitimate issue before the court or was it a motion that was easily dismissed without a response? A person involved in the case can file a motion on anything- like making a motion to have the judge eat oatmeal for breakfast. These kind of irrelevant motions don't need a response from the opposing attorney. Further, the deputy DA doesn't even know if motion was filed when the dating was supposedly going on. What kind of crap reporting is this?
In her affidavit, Stuart recalled that while children were testifying in the Nov. 22 case, Willardson's cellphone was on vibrate and went off frequently. Willardson repeatedly texted back, which diverted her attention from a defense attorney's cross-examination of the children, Stuart said.
"When cross-examination was completed," Stuart said, "Ms. Willardson asked me, 'What should I ask?' and 'Is there anything I am missing?' Ms. Willardson's questions indicated to me that Ms. Willardson had not been paying full attention to the children's cross-examination."
Stuart said that after Willardson left the counsel table to ask the children questions, her phone lit up and vibrated again. The call was coming from Jones.
At one point, Stuart said, Jones texted Willardson asking which courtroom she was in. Willardson told Jones in a text that she was going to win the case because "these people don't know what they're doing."
In Family Court, especially when there is a social worker involved, the attorney's on the DA's side of the case are the second fiddle. The social worker in these cases know far more about the case than the DA. They have interviewed the children, parents and most people involved int he case. They know the issues. So, it would not be unusual for the attorney to ask the social worker what questions should be asked and if she was missing anything. But according to German and the DA's office, this amounts to poor lawyering. Umm, no- bad reporting.
More crapola from the article: Stuart said she had to testify in one of Willardson's cases before Jones that day. Cordes told Stuart that he would be prosecuting the case instead of Willardson, but Willardson ended up sitting in the back of the courtroom to observe.
"While I was testifying, Ms. Willardson smiled and waved at me and gave me the thumbs-up sign," Stuart wrote. Umm, ok. What is wrong with a lawyer observing a case and showing that a person did a good job?

I think if Jones was dating the DA, it would be bad for her to be in his courtroom- I think that should go without saying.
However, it also appears that the DA and the mouthpiece of the DA, Jeff German and the LVRJ are also guilty of misconduct and borderline slanderous reporting. This is stuff that you find on the View, Geraldo, Jerry Springer and other gotcha entertainment shows.
The National Enquirer wouldn't print the crap German and the LVRJ has written. All the LVRJ and the DA's office has come up with is a photo of the judge's hand underneath a table, while he was sitting next to Willardson. His hand wasn't even touching her. And the photo was taken by a couple of peeping tom assistant DA's.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/family-judge-s-courting-stirs-rift-135565663.html
I don't know Jones, but I do know he may not be the right person for Family Court: http://www.ripoffreport.com/court-judges/family-court-judge-s/family-court-judge-steven-jone-866pe.htm He had been arrested for domestic violence along with members of his family, but that alone doesn't make him a bad judge in civil cases. Criminal and Family court, perhaps.
And again, I don't know what is going on because of the horrendous reporting by Jeff German. If German only presented us with facts instead of rumours and innuendos hand fed by the Clark County District Attorney's office, the readers could make a decision based on facts.
I also worry about the quality of the DA's office, that the are spending so much time going to the newspaper, playing games in the media and in court etc, instead of worry about the ongoing cases in Family Court and other courts in the county. They clearly are distracted by this pettiness and it certainly cannot help the children they are suppose to protect. Thank goodness DA David Rogers is resigning next month.
While some people think the Clark County court system is out of control, I don't see this, not yet, at least. I don't support appointing judges because of politics of the appointers, so if anyone thinks we need to get rid of judges, there is only 1 way to get rid of them- vote them out or get them impeached.
But biased and unethical reporting is not going to help matters.