Land Seizure Is Still Being Debated After 12 Years Of Legal Battle
December 4, 2007
Paul Moldon, a former Las Vegas Resident, believes he may finally get the proper compensation for the seizure of his lot which was next to the Stratosphere after a 12 year court battle.
After a half hour Supreme Court hearing on Monday, Moldon had said that he thinks that the judges finally got it. He went on to say that the city stole his property so that they could give it to the Stratosphere and then the county stole his interest.
In 1995, the city of Las Vegas’s redevelopment agency used the power of eminent domain to take Moldon’s half-acre lot in aid of the Stratosphere. At that time the casino-hotel wanted that land for expansion.
At that time, the city deposited $725,000 in a Clark County District Court trust account for Moldon. After that Moldon challenged the seizure and the money just sat in the account.
The interest that the account earned, which was estimated at $150,000 to $200,000 for over 10 years, was moved by the court clerk to the Clark County government’s general fund.
The Supreme Court is not expected to make a ruling for several months on whether the interest that was earned on the money belongs to Moldon. There are some justices, like Senior Justice Deborah Agosti, that have made comments that support Moldon’s position.
Agosti has questioned how the county could draw off the interest since Moldon was disputing the taking and did not surrender the property at the time.
Moldon, who is now a Washington state resident, suffers from multiple sclerosis that he says has been made worse by the long legal battle. When he was in the Supreme Court building he had to hobble around.
In late 2004, a Clark County jury found the land should have been priced at $1.5 million. Then Moldon sold the property to Stratosphere.
By Monday, Moldon had said that he had received about $3 million in principle and interest payments from the Stratosphere. He also said though that he had not received any of the interest that was earned on the original $725,000 deposit.
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