Washoe County Second Judicial District Court Judge Barry Breslow today reversed a denial of media coverage in his courtroom made last week.
Breslow last week sided with Chief Deputy District Attorney Amos Stege, who objected to This Is Reno Publisher Bob Conrad recording and taking photographs at an Aug. 10 hearing. Stege said he was not notified This Is Reno would be covering the proceeding.
This Is Reno in July filed a request to cover the hearing. The request was received by the court and forwarded to Breslow’s department.
Breslow denied the request based upon Stege’s objection more than halfway through the hearing and after this reporter had been taking photographs and recording audio, which was in the original media request.
Our Nevada Judges faced a similar situation in 2021. Breslow, in this same case, allegedly did not respond to a request to videotape and blocked access to a Nov. 4 hearing.
“Our media request was ignored, we were not allowed to record the proceeding, and now, the public is deprived of an opportunity to learn,” ONJ’s Alex Falconi told This Is Reno at the time. “I’m hoping that we will be allowed to record and publish the remainder of proceedings going forward.”
Our Nevada Judges has since been covering the case and was videotaping the Aug. 10 hearing.
Nevada Supreme Court rules presume court proceedings are open to the public, but reporters have to be given permission by a judge. This Is Reno petitioned the court to reconsider the media denial.
Breslow today reversed his decision. But Stege doubled down on his objection, which Breslow overruled.
“There’s no excuse,” Breslow said. “None of that happened properly.”
A new media coverage request form is being added to the district court’s website in the near future, Breslow said.
The case is concerning the arrest of Roger Hillygus and Stuart Handte, who are alleged to have kidnapped Hillygus’ mother four years ago then driving her to Los Angeles. They were arrested by a SWAT team after a standoff.
Susan Hillygus, the mother, has since passed away. She was under court-appointed guardianship that allegedly required a court order for her removal from a care facility. Roger alleged she was overmedicated and mistreated.
While out on bail last year, Hillygus failed to report for a psychological evaluation. Breslow issued a warrant for his arrest. He was arrested in Missouri and extradited back to Nevada. He remains in jail.
Handte, former Mineral County sheriff, last year refused to wear an ankle monitor, and Breslow issued a warrant for his arrest. He was found in Elko County and arrested by the Nevada State Police. He is out on bail.
Hillygus and Handte have supporters around the country who are alleging myriad concerns in the case, including that the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office is trying to kill Hillygus and that Breslow is not a legitimate judge. Hillygus frequently says the court has no legitimacy.
According to Stege, Hillygus is “a vexatious litigant.”
Due to alleged harassment against those prosecuting the case, Breslow on Monday will consider whether to have anonymous jurors. The trial is scheduled for the following week.
UPDATE: Reference to ONJ’s previous media coverage denial by Breslow was added to this story after it was published.
