Nevada candidate's accuser in assault case goes public

[NVMojo]

this asshat is the one who plagerized a speech last year during a Repuke dinner in Elko, Nevada wherein he said Birkenstock wearing liberals should be used as human shields in Iraq:

LAS VEGAS (AP) - A woman who says she was assaulted and propositioned by a Republican congressman running for Nevada governor said Wednesday she was threatened, pressured - and even offered money - to drop her allegations and change her story.

Chrissy Mazzeo, 32, a Las Vegas Strip hotel-casino cocktail waitress, said at an hour-long news conference that the money offer came soon after the alleged Oct. 13 incident from a friend who said she had connections to Rep. Jim Gibbons' gubernatorial campaign.

The friend, Pennie Puhek, told Mazzeo to drop the charges against Gibbons, 61, and said she would be paid if she signed a statement changing her account, according to Mazzeo's lawyer Richard Wright.

"There's money in this, you will get money for signing this," Wright quoted Puhek as saying on Oct. 16. Mazzeo added that a specific amount wasn't mentioned but it was clear the payment would be coming from "the Gibbons party."

more...

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/oct/25/102510122.html

[LVdem]

1. And he like to employ illegal aliens...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/10/25/nevada-gop-candidate-accu_n_32437.html

Even though he is against illegal aliens in this country.

[NVMojo]

2. here's the future Dem Guv ( a woman ) of NV's spin:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/oct/25/102510107.html

[Suich]

3. Where's Gibbons in the polls?

I would hope sinking, but you never know!

:hi:

[NVMojo]

4. hopefully

[rodeodance]

8. Harry Reid said......Titus was going to win the race anyway.

......After appearing at a Reno campaign rally Tuesday, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said the accusation would not help Gibbons, but he said Titus was going to win the race anyway.

"I think the die was cast before that happened. I think she's right on the issues and people are seeing that," Reid said.

"I think that stories speak for themselves. It's very clear that it shouldn't have happened," Reid said.

A Gibbons spokesman denied any wrongdoing by the candidate.

[yellowcanine]

5. With this plus the illegal alien nanny Gibbons is toast.

[rodeodance]

6. Police broke the law when they released Mazzeo's name .

Police broke the law when they released Mazzeo's name to the media, Wright said, adding that he had been unable to get copies of police photographs showing bruises and scrapes that Mazzeo says she suffered in the alleged attack.

"There are laws and procedures in place in our state which are supposed to prevent a spectacle a like this from taking place," Wright said. "If they had worked, we would not have to be here today to answer questions and defend herself. She is not supposed to be in this position."

Mazzeo said she was harrassed by a private investigator hired by the Gibbons campaign who had tried to meet with her and who misrepresented himself as an attorney.

David Groover, a former Las Vegas Metro police officer with the department's organized crime unit, acknowledged that he'd contacted Mazzeo and wanted to meet with her before her police statement and 911 tapes were released to the media.

[rodeodance]

7. Gibbons,........said he behaved like "an officer and a gentleman."

......Mazzeo said she dropped the matter because she wanted it to "go away." She added that Puhek told her she was in touch with Gibbons through a legal secretary who shares office space with Rogich and had been at the restaurant with Gibbons, Rogich and Mazzeo.

Mazzeo also said she had been frustrated by the congressman's denials, and by the investigation conducted by Las Vegas police.

"I want the truth to come out," Mazzeo, a single mother, said.

Gibbons, a former combat pilot, had said he behaved like "an officer and a gentleman." But Mazzeo said Wednesday that Gibbons was "definitely drinking and definitely aggressive" toward her - and "definitely not an officer and a gentleman."

Wright criticized the statements made by Clark County Sheriff Bill Young describing Mazzeo as "inebriated" the night of the incident, and characterizing the alleged assault as a misdemeanor. Young, who personally informed Gibbons to arrange an interview with police, is a Republican and has endorsed Gibbons in his race against Democratic state Sen. Dina Titus.

[autorank]

9. KR ...and he hides the woman who raises his children in the basement

like a criminal when his intollerant friends come over. What a POS.

I knew you'd get a piece of this story. You must be beside yourself with satisfaction that a total
hypocrite is outed.

Hey does Carter have any chance for Senate?

:hi:

[Stand and Fight]

10. Here's an excellent resource for the Mazzeo Affair

Includes transcripts of the 911 calls, police reports, statements by Mazzeo, and a statement by Gibbons...

http://nogibbons.blogspot.com/

[Stand and Fight]

11. The link above also links to videos of the news coverage. n/t

[NobleCynic]

12. <Removed by author>

[NobleCynic]

13. KLAS Channel 8 has her press conference up

Mark Sayre, Investigative Reporter (KLAS Channel 8 News, Las Vegas)
Las Vegas Woman Feels 'Safer' Knowing Her Story is Out

"She is the Las Vegas woman who first accused gubernatorial candidate Jim Gibbons of assaulting her. Although Chrissy Mazzeo called 911 three times on Oct. 13th to report the incident, she declined to press charges."

...

"She claims that the congressman assaulted and propositioned her in a parking garage outside a Las Vegas restaurant after the two shared some drinks.

Gibbons has said that he saw Mazzeo stumble in the parking garage and all he did was attempt to keep her from falling to the ground.

Her attorney says that she was pressured repeatedly -- and even offered money -- to drop her allegations."

...

"Mazzeo also says she never slipped and fell on her way to her car, as Gibbons says she did. She also says that it was her friend that urged her to drop charges saying that friend warned her Gibbons had powerful friends.

Mazzeo said, "She just said if you don't drop the charges then basically, she said, they'll kill you, your baby and your family.""

http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=...

---

On the same page, there are also links to streaming video of the Chrissy Mazzeo's news conference and Jim Gibbons' news conference. I don't know how to link directly to the video however. The video, although more than 40 minutes long, is extremely telling. Mazzeo's attorney says that filing charges are a possibility, but because of gross mishandling of the case thusfar, they would prefer it not be handled by metro PD. The alleged victim, Chrissy Mazzeo, comes off as rather credible in this news conference, and the bungling or corruption of the police in dealing with the matter is also presented strongly.

---

D.A. David Roger Talks About Chrissy Mazzeo's Case
(KLAS Channel 8 News, Las Vegas)

"Clark County District Attorney David Roger spoke with Eyewitness News after the Chrissy Mazzeo news conference Wednesday afternoon. Roger said he is willing to investigate the case, but only with complete cooperation from Mazzeo.

Some of the sharpest criticism in this case came out Wednesday. It was leveled at the Metro Police Department and Sheriff Bill Young. Chrissy Mazzeo's attorney questioned Metro's ability to do a thorough investigation and said he hoped the district attorney would start his own investigation."

...

"Mazzeo's attorney Richard Wright says the D.A.'s office is the one agency left they still have confidence in after they say Metro didn't perform a thorough investigation.

Wright said, "This is the law enforcement agency that is supposed to be protecting her not giving out her statements, not giving out her phone number, and harassing her.""

http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=...

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Perhaps the most telling remark was Gibbons' idiotic quote regarding what he had learned from the experience thusfar:

"... I learned an important lesson, never to offer a helping hand to anybody ever again."