The same Las Vegas-area judge attacked by a violent criminal who threw himself on the bench in a viral courtroom video has made headlines again for dismissing the “false electors” case related to the 2020 presidential election.
Clark County, Nevada, District Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus on Friday dismissed the battleground state's indictment against six Republican prosecutors who prosecutors say illegally submitted certificates to Congress certifying Trump as the winner of the 2020 presidential election. In doing so, Holthus said the office of Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat, chose the wrong place for the case.
Clark County, where Holthus presides, is Nevada's largest and contains Las Vegas, the state's most Democratic-leaning city.
Richard Wright, an attorney for one of the defendants, state GOP Chairman Michael McDonald, accused Ford of bringing the case to a grand jury in Las Vegas instead of Carson City or Reno, northern Nevada cities in a region more Republican where the defendants allegedly signed. and he submitted fraudulent documents in a scheme to overturn President Biden's victory.
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The defendants' court documents argue that the six Republicans met in Carson City, the capital of Nevada, located in a different county.
“What exactly happened here to give us jurisdiction?” Holthus said during Friday's hearing, according to the New York Times. “I mean, let's face it, most of this happened elsewhere, the way I read it.”
The judge canceled the trial, which had been scheduled for January, for the defendants, who also included Clark County Republican Party Chairman Jesse Law; party national committee member Jim DeGraffenreid; Douglas County and national committee member Shawn Meehan; Storey County Clerk Jim Hindle; and Eileen Rice, a Lake Tahoe area party member. Each was charged with offering a false instrument to present and making a forged instrument, felonies that carry a penalty of up to four or five years in prison.
Defendant Deobra Redden lunges toward Clark County District Judge Mary Kay Holthus at a sentencing hearing in Las Vegas on Jan. 3, 2024. (Screenshot/Fox News)
Defense attorneys bluntly declared the case closed, saying that presenting it now to another grand jury elsewhere would violate a three-year statute of limitations that expired last December.
The judge decided that although McDonald and Law live in Las Vegas, “everything happened up north.”
“Buying forums? Absolutely,” said Monti Jordana Levy, Rice's lawyer, according to the Times.
A spokesman for Ford said the state attorney general's office disagreed with the judge's decision and “will immediately appeal.”
This is not the first time a case involving Judge Holthus has attracted national attention.
While presiding over an unrelated case months ago, Holthus was preparing to inform defendant Deobra Redden of her punishment inside a Clark County District Courtroom on Jan. 3, before the scene descended into chaos when Redden was denied bail. Redden was being sentenced on an assault charge stemming from an attack with a baseball bat last year.
Judge Mary Kay Holthus presides over the court in Las Vegas on March 4, 2024. (Wade Vandervort/Las Vegas Sun via AP, file)
In a video obtained by Fox News Digital, Redden's attorney asked the judge to give his client probation.
“I think it's time I tried something else,” Holthus responded.
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The video showed Redden flying in the air above the bench with his arms and legs spread wide, before landing on top of the judge.
Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald (R) shakes hands with presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump on Jan. 27, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
The defendant, who had grabbed the judge by the hair, had to be pulled away from her by his secretary, Michael Lasso, and several court and jail officials, some of whom threw punches at him.
Lasso was treated for cuts to his hands and a marshal was hospitalized for a dislocated shoulder and a cut on his forehead. Holthus suffered some injuries but returned to work the next day.
Five days after the attack, Redden, with his hands tied and a net over his face, was brought back to court where Holthus completed his sentence on the assault charge, sending him to prison for up to four years.
On Feb. 8, a grand jury indicted Redden on nine counts in connection with the courtroom attack, including attempted murder, assault on a protected person and extortion by threat, KVVU reported.
His attorney, Carl Arnold, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity on his client's behalf, arguing that Redden was not taking his medications and was in a “delusional state” at the time of the attack.
In late March, the start of Redden's trial was delayed from April until at least September.
Deobra Redden, who was seen in a viral video attacking District Judge Mary Kay Holthus, appears again in front of Holthus to complete her sentence at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas on January 8, 2024. (KM Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Nevada is one of seven presidential battleground states where prosecutors brought “fake elector” cases related to Trump's 2020 campaign. Others are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. None of those cases are expected to go to trial before the 2024 presidential election.
Friday's decision comes after a similar case was delayed indefinitely in Georgia amid an investigation into Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' relationship with a prosecutor she hired.
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A federal case from Washington, D.C., has also been delayed until the Supreme Court rules on Trump's immunity claims.
The Nevada case, filed last December, focused on the actions of six defendants. Criminal cases in three other states focus on many more: 16 in Michigan, 19 in Georgia and 18 in Arizona.
Meehan is the only defendant in Nevada who has not been named by the state party as a delegate to the 2024 Republican National Convention next month in Milwaukee.
Greg Norman of Fox News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
