Man appeals lawsuit questioning officials

The man whose son is accused of killing a Wildhorse resident has appealed his challenge to Douglas County's law enforcement officials and the state of Nevada to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

David Matlean submitted his appeal on Oct. 20 after the case was dismissed June 16 by U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks.

In his lawsuit Matlean claims that because each county officer doesn't have a bond in his name, it is illegal for them to perform their duties under state law.

Attorneys for Sheriff Ron Pierini, District Attorney Mark Jackson and former East Fork Justice of the Peace Jim EnEarl argued that a blanket bond held by the county complies with the law. Hicks agreed and said Matlean didn't make the case that his civil rights were affected.

In his appeal, Matlean said that the coverage is not by the county as required by state law, but by the Nevada Public Agency Insurance Pool.

Matlean said the state law does not recognize cooperative agreements for bonds, and that the agreement does not cover the bonds.

He said that EnEarl was not authorized to hear matters of law when he denied Matlean's motion to move the traffic matters to federal court.

Matlean said the bench warrant under which deputies arrested him on Jan. 3, 2009, for failing to appear after EnEarl ordered him to pay his fines or appear in court, was also illegal.

"The courts almost always rule on the side of the government," Matlean said in an e-mail to The Record-Courier. "But that's why we have two higher courts, for when the lower courts make mistakes."

Matlean is the father of James Matlean who is accused of Wildhorse resident Benjamin Oxley's 2008 murder.

"The state requires us to comply with the law, as we should hold our public officials to comply with their sworn oath of office," Matlean said.

Matlean is representing himself, because he doesn't recognize the authority of any attorney admitted to the bar in the state of Nevada.

The entire matter was prompted by a traffic ticket issued to Matlean, 50, on July 17, 2008, for driving without a license, not having proof of insurance in his vehicle and not having a front license plate.

According to court documents Matlean filed Feb. 5, 2009, in U.S. District Court, he told the officer he was traveling, not driving, down Kimmerling Road when he was pulled over by a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper.

The trooper wrote him the ticket anyway. On Sept. 10, 2008, Matlean filed a motion to dismiss the charges, which he said the prosecution did not oppose, but EnEarl denied. It was after that motion was denied that Matlean said he discovered that EnEarl, Jackson and Pierini didn't have the bond required by state law to conduct their offices.

"Plaintiff's entire complaint is based on the premise that defendants acted in the commission of their respective offices without proper bonds," defendants' attorney Brent Kolvet wrote in his response. "Plaintiff is mistaken in his assessment of the same."

Kolvet argues that state law allows a blanket position bond to be furnished at county expense for all elected officers except county treasurer.

Officials serving in more than 250 Nevada local governments ranging across the alphabet from Alamo to Yerington rely on the bonds issued by the Nevada Public Agency Insurance Pool for their bonds.