Because he wasn’t asked, applicant didn’t tell about perjury charge

It's one of those classic "don't ask, don't tell" situations, but with a lemon twist.

Richard McCann doesn't recall being asked whether he had any convictions before he was appointed by then-Gov. Kenny Guinn to the Nevada Board of Chiropractic Physicians in 2006. In that job, he investigates and judges whether chiropractors are suitable for licensing.

Although Guinn required detailed applications from anyone seeking appointments to boards and commissions, McCann said he doesn't remember filling one out.

What is certain is that when McCann recently applied to become executive director of the Board of Osteopathic Medicine, he was not asked whether he had a criminal record. That's another job where he would have been investigating doctors, if he'd made the final cut.

It's also a board where a previous executive director was convicted of embezzlement and later another staffer was accused of misusing the board credit card for her own benefit. You'd think this board would be one that would routinely ask applicants if they had any prior convictions.

But because he wasn't asked, McCann didn't feel obliged to tell that in 1986 he was charged with felony perjury in federal court in California. Ultimately, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor contempt of court charge and was sentenced to three years of probation and 500 hours of community service.

When he was 31, he lied to a federal judge about being a licensed attorney when he wasn't. He was a law clerk who hadn't passed a bar exam anywhere. McCann wasn't allowed to take the Nevada bar exam because, while he obtained a law degree in 1980, it was from a non-accredited California law school.

In his guilty plea, McCann wrote that about March 1985 "I did submit a sworn affidavit before the U.S. District Court, in which I stated that I was admitted to practice law before the State of California and the Federal District Court. In fact, I was not so admitted, nor have I ever been admitted before any court in the United States. I did so for the purpose of practicing law."

McCann, 53, still isn't a licensed attorney, although some of his clients assume he is. But he doesn't have to be to represent police officers in hearings, which is his current job as a labor/legal representative for the California Organization of Police and Sheriffs (COPS). Not having a law license, he said, "doesn't get in the way of what I do. I defend the character and integrity of police officers."

When asked whether he disclosed the conviction from 23 years ago to the Guinn administration, McCann first said, "I'm assuming so, it's not a big deal."

Although it was standard in the Guinn administration for applicants for boards and commissions to fill out a detailed application and sign a waiver for a background check, McCann said he didn't remember filling out an application, only writing a letter seeking the appointment three years ago.

A search of state archives was inconclusive. The searcher couldn't find chiropractic board application records for Guinn's second term, only for his first term.

McCann is a consumer member of the board, and I'm told he's a good board member. He's not sure if he'll seek appointment to another term by Gov. Jim Gibbons when his term expires this fall, citing the time it takes.

Gibbons may have his own issues with higher standards, but the application he requires for applicants for boards and commissions asks detailed questions and asks whether someone has had convictions.

The daunting form at http://gov.state.nv.us/FormsX.htm asks about convictions and a whole lot of other things, including this broad catchall: Are you aware of anything about your past which, if disclosed, would be embarrassing for the governor?

If McCann seeks another term, then Gibbons will have to decide whether a contempt conviction is a big deal.

Perhaps an old conviction doesn't disqualify someone from serving on the chiropractic board.

Perhaps it wouldn't block someone from becoming executive director of the Board of Osteopathic Medicine.

But lying to a federal judge sounds so nasty and there's that adage is that if you sit in judgment of others, your hands better be clean.

So wouldn't it have been smart for someone to ask? Then McCann could have argued the conviction was no big deal.

Yet if he wasn't asked, how could he tell?

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/morrison.