Daniel Bergin, director of the Department of Gaming, is trying a new legal tactic aimed at derailing the Tohono O’odham Nation’s planned opening of its $200 million casino in Glendale, planned for December.
Last week Bergen made a new filing in U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell’s court asking the court to rule on allegations that casino should not be allowed to proceed because the tribe in 2002 allegedly lied to the public about its intentions to build a casino in the area shortly before the vote on the state tribal gaming compact that included all of the state’s gaming tribes.
Voters were told that the compact would mean no new casinos in the Phoenix area, says the filing. The voters approved of Prop. 202, which authorized casino gaming in the state, in 2002.
The tribe and its enemies have met in Judge Campbell’s court, and the Tohonos have usually prevailed. It could be argued that Judge Campbell has previously ruled on the same issue—in 2011.
However, Bergin is recasting the allegations in a new light, including testimony from officials of other tribes, and testimony of interviews done with newspaper editorial boards in which tribal leader declared, “there will be no additional facilities authorized in Phoenix, and only one additional facility permitted in Tucson.”
These declarations were made despite the fact that the Tohonos knew at the time that they planned to buy land in the area and build a casino there. State officials didn’t learn of these plans until after the passage of Prop. 202.
Bergin is petitioning the court to be allowed to deny issuing a gaming license to the tribe. Without it the tribe will only be able to offer Class II games.
His petition is in answer to a lawsuit by the tribe asking that the court force Bergin to issue the license.
In his previous ruling Judge Campbell said that it didn’t matter if the voters operated under false information that the casino is allowed under the language that they did approve. He said that “no reasonable reading” of the agreement would indicate that no casino was allowed near Phoenix.
In his filings Bergin argues that the tribe had a “secret plan” and fraudulently did not disclose it to voters or fellow tribes. In his previous ruling Campbell said that the state could not sue the tribe because of sovereign immunity. However, now that the tribe has sued Bergin, he argues that he can use the argument.
The tribe says that it will open a Class II casino no matter what Campbell’s ruling is.
