Brent Adams
Brent Adams was a judge on the Nevada Second Judicial District Court. He was appointed to this position on July 4, 1989, by Governor Bob Miller. He retired at the end of his term in 2014.[1][2]
Adams was the founding presiding judge of the Washoe County Business Court. He also initiated the Washoe County Drug Court.[1]
Adams died on November 2, 2022.[3]
Education
Adams received his J.D. from the University of Arizona College of Law in 1974.[1]
Awards and associations
- 1993-2002: Chair, Washoe County Criminal Justice Advisory Committee
- Former faculty member, National Judicial College
- Former member, Nevada Board of Continuing Legal Education
- Former member, Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline
- Former member, Judicial Assessment Commission
- Former member, Nevada Supreme Court Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee
- Former member, Washoe County Law Library Board
- Former editor in chief, Nevada Civil Practice Manual and Forms (second and third editions)
- Former member, University of Nevada, Reno, College of Liberal Arts Advisory Council
- Former member, Reno Diocese Review Board of the Roman Catholic Church[1]
Noteworthy cases
Judge cuts sex offender's sentence from ten to one year in jail
Judge Adams made national headlines in late March 2014 after he changed a sex offender's sentence from 10 years to life in prison to one year with five years of probation. The judge cited a clerical error.
Isaac Onsurez, 69, pleaded guilty to molesting a 6-year-old girl, which is a Category A felony with a minimum 10-year prison sentence. The abuse occurred, according to authorities, over 100 times from 1997 to 1999. The victim reported the abuse in 2012.
Prior to December 31, 1999, when the crimes occurred, Nevada law provided that probation was an apt punishment for such a crime as long as a psychiatric evaluation deemed the defendant a low risk to re-offend. The minimum sentence was increased in 2000. Thus, Adams' sentence was consistent with the law at the time of the crimes.
The victim's mother said, "It was the harshest sentence he could impose, and that was the justice we were looking for...then two days later we get a phone call."[2][4]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Second Judicial District Court, "Judge Brent T. Adams biography," accessed March 21, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 USA Today, "Child sex sentence changed from up to life to 1 year," March 20, 2014
- ↑ This Is Reno, "Retired Washoe judge Adams passes away," November 28, 2022
- ↑ Reno Gazette-Journal, "Sentence drops from life to 1 year in jail in case of Reno man guilty of sex acts with 6-year-old," March 19, 2014
Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Nevada • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Nevada
State courts:
Nevada Supreme Court • Nevada Court of Appeals • Nevada District Courts • Nevada Justice Courts • Nevada Municipal Courts • Clark County Family Court, Nevada
State resources:
Courts in Nevada • Nevada judicial elections • Judicial selection in Nevada
