Lane angry over use of his picture in TV ad for Reno candidate

RENO, Nev. -- Former prosecutor and judge Mills Lane says he's angry over the use of his picture in a television ad for a Reno judge up for re-election.

Lane, who is in New York recovering from a stroke, said he fears voters will think he endorses Washoe District Judge Connie Steinheimer because his picture appears in one of her TV spots.

The ad briefly shows a picture of Lane, along with Cal Dunlap, and states that Steinheimer was a trusted prosecutor under the two district attorneys.

"I would like to make it perfectly clear that I do not endorse Connie Steinheimer for the District Court race," Lane said in a statement.

"Anything suggesting otherwise is simply false. I am very happy to be endorsing Mike Langton in this contest."

Kaye Lane said that because her husband has trouble speaking, she helped write the statement by asking him "yes" and "no" questions.

Steinheimer said the ad was designed to show her experience in the district attorney's office and not suggest an endorsement by Lane.

She said the ad is similar to one she ran six years ago while running for re-election. Lane didn't complain then, and he hasn't contacted her now, she said.

"It just says that I have prosecutorial experience," Steinheimer told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "It isn't an implication that anybody endorses me."

Since suffering a stroke in March at his Reno home, Lane has been undergoing therapy at New York University Medical Center.

Lane was a Washoe County district judge from 1990 to 1998, when he resigned to star in a nationally syndicated court TV show that ran for three years before being canceled last year.

He also is a former boxing referee best known for his role in the 1997 heavyweight bout in which Mike Tyson bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield's ear.

Kaye Lane said her husband was upset when he learned of Steinheimer's ad.

"He has been trying to find someone to run against her for years," she said.