Judge in hospital; husband charged with attempted murder

NEW YORK – Elizabeth Halverson underwent surgery today for injuries sustained when her husband, Ed, allegedly attacked her with a frying pan. Ed Halverson was arrested last night and charged with attempted murder, battery with a deadly weapon and battery with substantial bodily harm. Elizabeth Halverson apparently suffered severe injuries to her face, chest and upper arm. Halverson’s current condition is unknown at this time.

Halverson, a Clark County District Court judge, was the subject of a judicial disciplinary hearing last month. She has been suspended since July 2007. Yesterday, attorneys on both sides received a 1,900-page transcript of the two-week hearing. They have until September 18 to submit written closing arguments. The Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline is expected to decide the matter sometime after receiving the closing arguments. The most severe penalty it can impose is to remove Halverson from the bench. Removal would bar Halverson from running for judicial office in the future.

Halverson’s attorney at the discipline hearing, Michael Schwartz, told In Session that he spent considerable time with Elizabeth and Ed Halverson for two weeks last month when everyone was under a lot of stress. Not once did he see the slightest suggestion of violence between them. “To hear the charge of attempted murder is something I could never imagine,” said Schwartz. Special prosecutor, Dorothy Nash Holmes, commented: “We all wish Judge Halverson the best.”

Both attorneys agreed that Halverson’s hospitalization will not delay the submission of their closing arguments to the Commission on Judicial Discipline.