Equal justice

On May 1, 2007, I attended a commissioner's meeting at the Bob Ruud Community Center. I asked Commissioner Peter Liakopoulos if he could prove some statements he made when he ran for political office here in Nye County.

Commissioner Liakopoulos did not like my questions and at that point he came down off the stage and approached me in a threatening manner and bumped me and knocked me back.

There were numerous witnesses to this incident and it's even on videotape.

The sheriff's department was called and I left the meeting so no further problems would arise. The next day, May 2, 2007, I filed a battery charge against Commissioner Liakopoulos, and the standard procedure here in Nye County is within 60 days to either pay off the fine or get a court date and have your case heard in court.

If the charge is totally ignored, then a warrant will be issued for your arrest.

As of today, nothing has been done, and numerous phone calls to Nye County District Attorney Robert S. Beckett have all gone unreturned.

I finally saw District Attorney Robert S. Beckett at the courthouse, and I wanted to know why this case is not being prosecuted, but all I got was the runaround, and still no warrant or court date.

I am a handicapped senior citizen who expects our elected officials to perform their jobs without bias or prejudice. I expect equal justice for all people, but it is apparent that Commissioner Liakopoulos is receiving special treatment because of his position, and I am sure that if the situation was reversed and I ignored a battery charge, that I would be arrested.

If District Attorney Robert S. Beckett wants to protect certain individuals, then he should resign his position and become a bodyguard, because a district attorney should protect everyone and administer equal justice for all.

SAM JONES

One-sided reporting

Wow, talk about one-sided reporting and trying someone in the media.

"Deputies avoid injury in BLM land shooting" -- This headline sounds like the suspects were engaged in a shootout with the police. In actuality that was not what was going on.

The suspects are my son, grandson and a friend of theirs. They were out in the desert target practicing, as have many other people in the area. They were firing at an embankment at least 15 feet high. The area was not posted as a restricted area, was approximately one mile from any residence and was obviously a place that many others previously used for this purpose.

Spent casings and shotgun shells were strewn all over, along with the usual shot up refrigerator, cans, bottles etc.

We spoke with a firearms specialist and were told that at that range the velocity of the bullet would not have caused damage to a house one mile away. It would lose approximately 15 percent of its force for every 300 yards; the trooper's house was approximately 1,700 yards away.

As far as the officers' training and experience are concerned, I would have to question their common sense. The officers approached the area where the gunfire was coming from "Rambo" style, coming over the hill where the gunfire was coming from, and were lucky they were not accidentally shot. The officers could have approached from the road without any incidence.

I also wonder if nine squad cars would have been dispatched had the citizen whose house was supposedly hit not been a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper.

After asking my son what they were doing, my son told them they were only target practicing. As far as reports stating that they were intoxicated, those are overblown also.

Since this happened, someone has been to the scene and cleaned up evidence of prior target practice by many other people, making it look like it was never used for that purpose.

This could have been handled with a simple warning about the danger of using firearms instead of arresting and jailing people whose only crime was doing what so may other people have done: target practicing in the desert instead of at a professional firing range.

The reporter for the PVT has convicted them and sullied their reputations before knowing the true facts of the story. She made it sound like the shootout at the OK Corral when all it was was a few guys out there target practicing and having a few beers.

JOHN AND RENEE PROPPS

(Reports of criminal activity are, as a rule, based on sheriff's office press releases. In this case no one else made any effort to speak up until the above letter (from one who was not at the scene and has no first-person knowledge) was received.-Ed.)