MARK WAITE / PVT Former Nye County Commissioner Peter Liakopoulos, at left, listens to public defender Tom Gibson argue his case. Advertisement

The prosecution of former Nye County Commissioner Peter Liakopoulos is politically motivated, public defender Tom Gibson said in his opening arguments after a jury was picked in the bribery trial Monday.

Prosecutor Conrad Hafen, deputy attorney general, in his opening arguments to the jury, said Liakopoulos contacted former Pahrump Town Board Chairman Laurayne Murray three times when the matter of the appointment of a curator to the veteran's museum came up, to lobby for his wife to get the appointment.

The state's complaint charges Liakopoulos offered to vote for a half-cent county sales tax increase in return for his wife's appointment.

Gibson said Murray, whose husband works for the Pahrump Valley Fire-Rescue Service, had a grudge against Liakopoulos, as did the sheriff, as those two departments would have benefited from the added revenue if the half-cent sales tax passed.

Gibson also planted in the jury's mind the question: Why didn't the state prosecute Murray for her involvement in the alleged deal?

"It's OK if Ms. Murray does it but not Mr. Liakopoulos, and you know why? It's the smelly, stinky, grimy world of politics," Gibson said.

He argued Murray and the state attorney general are both Democrats, while Liakopoulos is a Republican.

"This is politics. Get the Republicans out, get your Democrat buddies in there," he said.

Gibson said the curator position Jenny Liakopoulos sought was an unpaid, volunteer position.

"These statutes aren't made because a man tried to get a volunteer, unpaid position for his wife. Why don't we prosecute a guy for trying to be head scoutmaster?" Gibson argued.

The public defender went on to claim Murray had intentions of helping the recall against Liakopoulos, which was going on at the time of the failed sales tax vote in December 2007, and then seek his position as District 5 commissioner.

Hafen said while it was unpaid, the curator position was still a public office. "She would have control over the proposed veterans museum at the memorial site," he said.

A vote to appoint Jenny Liakopoulos as curator failed in a 2-2 tie by the Pahrump Town Board in October 2007. Hafen said Liakopoulos voted to oppose the sales tax increase in December 2007, which failed by a 3-2 vote.

"These facts go to the very heart of what our government system is about. It is not trading one vote for another vote. It's trading a vote so a family member can get appointed to a public office, whether it be a volunteer, non-paid office or not," Hafen said.

"This case, though it may be insignificant to some, again goes to the very heart of what good government is all about and what being an elected official is all about. It comes to power, influence and the public trust," Hafen said.

The prosecutor told jurors Liakopoulos, the previous summer, had sought to take control of the building by getting the veteran's museum lease awarded to his organization, Supporting Soldiers in Need, or SSI.

"When he couldn't get the lease agreement, he attempted to get it through his wife," Hafen said. "He wanted that building as a museum to be controlled by his wife."

Gibson told the jury of seven women and five men there was a difference between an ethical violation and a legal violation.

"No law has been violated whatsoever. We will show you through the state's witness the embellishment, the lies. It's a classic 'he said, she said,'" Gibson said. "This is a case of sour grapes from a tattletale who did worse, who ran to the police."

Earlier in the hearing, outside the presence of the jury, both sides argued over whether to allow the admission of testimony about a previous ethical complaint against Murray, in an attempt by the defense to impeach the witness. Hafen questioned the relevance to the trial. Lane hadn't ruled on the request by press time.

The official charges against Liakopoulos include a felony count of asking or receiving a bribe, a misdemeanor count of offering a reward for an appointment and a misdemeanor count of grafting by a public officer.