Judge rules widow of fallen officer can testify in Michele Fiore case

A judge ruled Wednesday that former Las Vegas Councilwoman Michele Fiore cannot claim the government has “vindictively or selectively” prosecuted her and that the widow of the police officer whose statue is at the center of the wire fraud charges Fiore faces will be allowed to testify at her trial.

Fiore, 53, of Pahrump, was indicted by a federal grand jury in July on wire fraud and conspiracy charges. Prosecutors have accused her of raising tens of thousands of dollars for a statue of fallen Metropolitan Police Department officer Alyn Beck but spending it on herself and her daughter’s wedding.

She has pleaded not guilty and her trial is scheduled to start on Sept. 24.

Nicole Beck testimony

Fiore’s attorney, Michael Sanft, previously said in court filings that Nicole Beck, Alyn Beck’s widow, should not be allowed to testify because she does not have information about the allegations against Fiore. He argued that “her inclusion only is for inciting emotional reaction from the jury.”

U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey disagreed.

“The fraud scheme that Fiore is accused of naturally lends itself to some emotional testimony,” Dorsey wrote. “Given that Fiore chose this backdrop for her alleged fraud, it cannot be said that the prejudice from those sympathy-inducing details is unfair, let alone substantially so.”

Dorsey also said Beck can “provide circumstantial evidence of Fiore’s intent to defraud her donors.”

Sanft and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Review-Journal has been unable to reach Beck for comment.

Fiore referred comment to Sanft.

Prosecutors previously said Fiore and Nicole Beck never met before Fiore proposed the statue at the park’s groundbreaking ceremony. Fiore also did not tell Beck about her fundraising efforts.

“The fact that Fiore never consulted Mrs. Beck about her feelings about the statue, and the fact that she rarely interacted with her throughout the process, provides circumstantial evidence that Fiore’s true motive was not to honor Beck’s husband,” prosecutors have alleged.

Vindictive prosecution claims

Fiore has previously called federal prosecutors “corrupt,” supported the Bundy family in its 2014 conflict with the federal government and argued that the government designated her a domestic terrorist, a claim prosecutors said was based on a misreading of FBI documents.

Prosecutors previously said defense arguments about federal prosecutions of the Bundy family and claims Fiore “was selectively or vindictively prosecuted based on her political beliefs or her views about federal law enforcement” would not be relevant or admissible.

The Bundys’ charges were dismissed due to prosecutorial misconduct.

Sanft argued Fiore had a right to present evidence about “prosecutorial vindictiveness.”

Dorsey ordered that Fiore cannot introduce evidence or arguments about a vindictive or selective prosecution theory, her involvement with the Bundys or her allegation that the government labeled her a domestic terrorist. She should have made her vindictive prosecution claims in a pretrial motion, Dorsey said, but didn’t.

But Dorsey said her ruling “does not preclude” Fiore from asking government witnesses questions that are designed to show their bias against her.

“Fiore’s affiliation with the Bundy family and her beliefs that she was classified as a domestic terrorist and selectively targeted for prosecution are irrelevant to the question that this trial will attempt to answer: whether Fiore defrauded donors to the Alyn Beck statue project,” the judge wrote.