Lawsuit revives fraud allegations in Broward slots measure
A lower court erred in throwing out the suit after the vote, an appeals court rules.

Jamie Malernee
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Copyright © 2006, Orlando Sentinel
Thursday, August 9, 2006

A state appeals court Tuesday handed down a potential death sentence for slot machines in Broward County.

But local racetracks are still moving ahead with plans to offer the games, anticipating years of legal wrangling before a final ruling is made.

The suddenly uncertain future of slot machines stems from a lawsuit filed by Floridians Against Expanded Gambling, a group that says pro-gambling petitioners forged signatures to get the issue on the statewide ballot in November 2004. A Leon County Circuit judge originally denied their request for an expedited trial before the election. After voters approved the constitutional amendment that opened the door for slots, the judge declared the issue moot.

In a 2-1 ruling, the 1st District Court of Appeal now says that wasn't fair and ordered a trial. If fraud is found, "the trial court should declare the Slots Initiative invalid," the court wrote.

"It is clear that a favorable vote cannot cure deception," the ruling states.

Mark Herron, an attorney for Floridians Against Expanded Gambling and the parties that joined the suit, The Humane Society of the United States and GREY2K USA, savored the taste of victory.

"The law has always been that there should have never been an amendment on the ballot, and so the vote never should have taken place," he said.

Herron said he expects the pro-slots camp to appeal -- and run slot machines in the meantime.

"I don't think anybody is deluded that this ruling is going to stop everything in its tracks," he said. "If we go to the Supreme Court tomorrow, it could be 18 months."

Dan Adkins, spokesman for the pro-slots Floridians for a Level Playing Field and head of the Mardis Gras Race Track & Gaming Center in Hallandale Beach, said his lawyers would file in the next 15 days for a rehearing before the full district court. If that fails, they will appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.

Until then, "nothing in this decision says anything about slowing down," said Adkins, who has already spent $25 million on track renovations and has hired about 300 of the 500 employees he says will be ready when the business reopens, set for the third week in September. The revamped center was previously known as the Hollywood Dog Track.

"I'm still pushing forward," he said. "The people in this state have voted on this issue. Ultimately, we will prevail and the voters will benefit."

Gov. Jeb Bush, who has opposed any expansion of gambling in Florida, "was encouraged by the ruling" but would wait to see the outcome of the case, said Bush spokesman Russell Schweiss.

"Until there is a definitive ruling, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation will continue implementing [slot machines] in the direction the Legislature gave them," Schweiss said.

The likely avenue for appeal: The dissenting opinion laid out by Chief Judge Charles J. Kahn, Jr.

Disagreeing with Judges Ricky Polston and Paul Hawkes, Kahn said the state Supreme Court has already ruled on this issue in a similar case involving alcohol sales.

Originally, a trial court voided the election result on alcohol sales in Lafayette County because not enough signatures were collected for the issue to be properly put on the ballot. But the Supreme Court overturned this, ruling that "the duties required to be done leading up to the election . . . are in no respect part of the election" and that the "defect was cured by the election itself."

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is a Tribune Publishing newspaper.