Longtime Reno defense attorney David Houston dies at age 69

RENO, Nev. (AP) — David Houston, one of Reno’s top defense attorneys who represented celebrities as well as defendants in high-profile murder cases, has died. He was 69.

Houston practiced law in Reno for more than 30 years. He died on Saturday following complications from a surgery, according to his friend and law partner Ken Lyon.

“You could talk to any attorney and they would say Dave was one of the most outstanding legal minds,” Lyons said told the Reno Gazette Journal on Monday.

Houston’s clients included professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis and Liberace’s ex-lover Scott Thorson. He represented officials at the Mustang Ranch brothel east of Reno, and Charles Higgs, who was convicted in 2017 of murdering Nevada Controller Kathy Augustine, Higgs wife.

He got a murder conviction overturned against a Vagos motorcycle gang member in a 2013 shootout with the Hells Angels at a hotel-casino in Sparks, and defended former judges, sheriff’s deputies and an ex-IRS agent. He was known for mixing humor with sometimes halting, then rapid questioning of witnesses with a style that kept jurors engaged during lengthy trials.

“If law enforcement or judges are in trouble they went to Dave,” Lyon said. “He has touched the lives of the people of the community.”