NV Supreme Court orders removal of Las Vegas judge from case

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – The Nevada Supreme Court ordered Clark County District Court Judge Jerry Wiese to remove Judge Erika Ballou from a criminal case on Friday.

Ballou did not follow two previous orders from Nevada’s high court regarding the same case. The May 3rd order pointed to “the district court’s failure to comply.”

The controversy involves a criminal case against Mia Christman who was part of a violent crime spree at the age of 18. She pleaded guilty to two felony charges and was sentenced to a minimum of ten years in prison.

In an appeal, Christman’s attorney, Betsy Allen argued that Christman was the victim of sex trafficking and childhood trauma.

Ballou vacated the sentence in 2021 resulting in Christman’s release from prison before she finished serving the original term.

“It felt like somebody took a chance on me,” Christman told the 8 News Now Investigators.

The Clark County District Attorney’s office continued to fight for Christman to serve the remainder of her sentence and argued that Christman was manipulating the system again. Christman failed to cooperate and disappeared twice before her guilty plea, according to prosecutors.

The Nevada Supreme Court reversed Ballou’s order in 2022. Ballou did not send Christman back to prison.

The Nevada Supreme Court issued an order again in 2023. Ballou still did not send Christman back to prison.

Allen and Christman went to the pardons board in March which denied their request. Nevada Supreme Court Justice Douglas Herndon expressed frustration.

“This is kind of turning our pardons process on its head,” Herndon said. “The walls are closing in on the District Court that is shockingly refusing to do its job.”

The Clark County District Attorney’s office filed a motion for recusal. A judge should not take action on a case after that filing, according to Nevada state law.

Ballou still took action on the case, court records show.

The May 3rd order marks the third order for Ballou in Christman’s case.

District Attorney Steve Wolfson filed a complaint with the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline on April 30 accusing Ballou of five violations.

“Judge Ballou failed to perform all duties of judicial office fairly and impartially when she repeatedly acted in favor of Christman and against the state,” Wolfson wrote. “Judge Ballou’s bias has caused her to ignore the Nevada Supreme Court for nearly two years and impaired the fairness of these proceedings.”

While out of custody, Christman said she has stayed out of trouble and also had a baby which may go into the child welfare system if she has to go back to prison.

As of Friday afternoon, there was no surrender date for Christman on record.

The 8 News Now Investigators reached out to Wiese regarding the order. He was unavailable for comment, according to his judicial executive assistant.

The 8 News Now Investigators also reached out to Ballou for comment and did not receive a response.

Allen sent the following statement:

“Ms. Christman regrets the Supreme Court’s removal of Judge Ballou after granting the motion to modify her sentence, but she trusts the new judge assigned will do the right thing and credit her for the six years in prison she already served.”

Ballou already faces ethics charges for several separate incidents including a photo of Ballou in a hot tub with two public defenders.

Ballou served as a public defender for over 15 years before being sworn into the bench in 2021. Her current term ends in 2027.

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