After a failed motion to remove the judge, a sudden dismissal, and a vacated second trial date, the Wrongful Death trial of Scott David Fau has been rescheduled again, this time its expected to begin on January 6, 2003, - almost eight years after Fau's death.

On two occasions in the protracted history of this case, District Court Judge Nancy M. Saitta has either dismissed or vacated trial dates just weeks before trials were set to begin.

The first jury trial was set for June 18, 2001, but Judge Saitta dismissed the case based on a motion made two weeks earlier. Fau's attorney, Randall Pike, immediately appealed the judge's decision to the Nevada Supreme Court. One week following the filing of the appeal, Judge Saitta changed her mind and reset the trial for March 18, 2002. Then, once again, on March 13, only one week before the trial was set to begin, Judge Saitta vacated the trial date indefinitely reportedly causing Scott Fau’s widow Camille and her two daughters great anguish.

Now, the judge has set a new, third trial date.

The case is based on a lawsuit filed by Camille Fau. Her late husband was found beaten to death next to railroad tracks behind the Crazy Horse Too topless bar on Aug. 4, 1995. The lawsuit claims the bar at 2476 Industrial Road permitted its employees to beat Scott Fau to death after he was ejected.

Dan Kennedy, an alleged eyewitness to the Fau's death, participated in a taped interview on January 24, 2001, with private investigator Robert Maddox.

In his taped description of the beating, Kennedy said: "Yeah, they're the one that beat up this Hawaiian guy out there that was just - - the poor guy wasn't even moving, and they were kicking him, and, um, at that point that's all. They were just kicking him around, jumping on him, stomping on his arm. They stomped his leg. Kicked him in the stomach. They kept - Moe was kicking him in the head, and you just watched his head wiggle around."

Kennedy also stated on the tape: "The manager guy would poke his head out the door, but he wouldn't walk out. He'd just - he'd open the door and look out and then step back in. I never seen - he didn't come out." Kennedy identified the manager of the Crazy Horse as "Vinny or Vince."

Prior to the taped interview, Kennedy had told his story about the beating to several persons including private investigators and attorneys. On December 12, 2000, Frederick "Rick" Rizzolo, the owner of the topless club, sued Kennedy for defamation. Rizzolo claimed that Kennedy fabricated the story to defame him and that Fau died of injuries sustained from a fall from a moving train.

However, in a Declaration filed with the court, pathologist Griffith Thomas, M.D. stated that Fau's cause of death was "blunt force trauma consistent with a severe beating and/or positional asphyxiation," which closely coincided with Kennedy's taped description.

Though Dan Kennedy was a key witness in the case, Judge Saitta allowed Rizzolo's defamation lawsuit to proceed against him and accepted the case on her court's calendar.

Then, two other defamation cases involving Rizzolo also found their way onto Judge Saitta's calendar; one against James Barrier; the other against the Las Vegas Tribune. Rizzolo claimed that Barrier who runs a neighboring business, and the Tribune were working together to defame him and asked that the cases be consolidated with his suit against Kennedy. Judge Saitta complied.

In the unprecedented action, the same judge was "randomly" assigned to four cases involving the same litigant. When the Tribune filed a motion to remove Judge Saitta from its case, Rizzolo strongly objected and the judge remained. However, after several news stories and Editorials in the Tribune about the unusual situation, Judge Saitta, on May 24, without explanation, recused from three of the four cases, but remained on the Fau case.

Then, on April 25, 2001, Dan Kennedy suddenly recanted his taped testimony saying he had been coerced into making his statement about being a witness to the beating. Rick Rizzolo quickly distributed Kennedy's sworn affidavit to the media.

Following Kennedy's recantation, Judge Saitta was asked to rule on the scope of testimony she will allow the jury to hear. The testimony includes the transcript of the taped conversation with Kennedy; evidence of confrontations and altercations at the Crazy Horse occurring before and after Fau's death; motions to limit presentation of photos of the decedent; and evidence regarding prior felony convictions of two of Rizzolo's employees. The motions will be heard on December 17, at a Pretrial Conference. Attorneys for the Fau family do not expect any more dismissals or delays.

Frederick Rizzolo was one of the four biggest contributors to Judge Nancy Saitta's last political campaign.

© Copyright Las Vegas Tribune, Inc.