Our Nevada Judges Prevented from Covering Hearing Related to Thornley Domestic Battery Report
A recap of our weekly reporting plus bonus content.
We’ve had lots of comments this week on our social media specific posts from the Powning District developments, to the smell of Bradford Pear trees, to an anti-hate protest and disruptions at a pro-Israel presentation at UNR.
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In terms of this week’s Substack, another story which caught our attention was Washoe County Second Judicial District Court Judge Kathleen Sigurdson preventing the Our Nevada Judges YouTube channel from covering a public records hearing in an important lawsuit filed by This is Reno, to obtain documents related to an April 8th, 2023 domestic violence battery report at the house of outgoing Reno city manager Doug Thornley.
Further adding to local media frustrations and concerns of a possible cover up, no record of the 911 call from Thornley’s home concerning the incident can currently be found. No related bodycam footage has been provided to date and the incident’s police report initially released by Picon Press Media has been heavily redacted (as can be seen in attached photos).
We contacted Alexander Falconi from Our Nevada Judges who indicated to us “it was very strange because neither of the attorneys objected, which means the sole source of resistance to media coverage was the judge herself.”
“I usually see this come from judges who are insecure about their competence on the bench and are hoping that the media entity doesn't have the resources to fight the abuse of discretion on writ review,” Falconi added. “Judge Sigurdson was wrong of course, as I authorized corporate counsel to sue her under SCR 243, a rule which allows news reporters to seek intervention by appellate review,” he said.
Stay tuned for more on this developing story … As we reported last week, Thornley, whose salary and battles with councilwoman Jenny Brekhus kept escalating, as well as negative press coverage with a Travel Gate of council members with dubious reimbursements unveiled by This is Reno has announced his resignation effective early July 2024.
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