Battle intensifies on release of file in gaming probe

Thursday, Oct. 29, 1998 | 11:09 a.m.

Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa is battling behind the scenes to keep secret the criminal file of a well-publicized and embarrassing investigation of slot cheating.

The investigation -- which involved the activities of Ron Harris, a former Gaming Control Board technician serving prison time for rigging the jackpots of slot machines -- was shut down months ago. The file is said to contain more than 38,000 pages of documents.

At the heart of the records fight is a lawsuit that alleges Del Papa used the investigation to launch an intelligence probe of one of her political foes, Bill Bible, who was then chairman of the Gaming Control Board.

Mike Anzalone, a former Del Papa investigator, has alleged in the suit that he was forced to resign because he refused to participate in the secret Bible probe, which did not result in the filing of any charges. Anzalone believes there is information in the Harris file that will document his claim.

Del Papa, who's running for re-election, contends she never secretly looked into the activities of Bible, one of the more highly regarded public servants in Nevada. But she does not deny that her office investigated allegations of wrongdoing by Gaming Control Board employees other than Harris.

Earlier this month, Del Papa deputies filed papers in District Court seeking to block attempts by Anzalone to obtain the Harris records. A hearing is scheduled in the courtroom of Discovery Commissioner Thomas Biggar on Tuesday.

Of particular interest to Anzalone are several hours of videotapes Harris made with David Thompson, one of Del Papa's senior deputies, in 1996 after Harris pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate in the investigation.

Harris leveled a barrage of unsubstantiated allegations on the tapes about the conduct of Bible and other Gaming Control Board employees who pushed the criminal case against Harris. Portions of the tapes were leaked to ABC News and aired on PrimeTime Live in March 1997, causing national embarrassment to Bible and the casino industry.

In their papers, Deputy Attorneys General Mark Ghan and Bridget Branigan argued that the controversial file should remain secret to preserve the integrity of the gaming industry and the reputations of those Harris accused of wrongdoing.

"The disclosure of cheating methods, casino and gaming-device manufacturer proprietary information and uncorroborated allegations of widespread cheating would tend to erode public confidence in the industry and thereby damage the economy of the state," the deputies said.

"None of the allegations were ever corroborated. These entities and individuals have interests in the protection of their reputations."

Ghan and Branigan also argued that they have an obligation to protect the identities of confidential informants used in the Harris case, as well as information developed during the probe that became part of a separate criminal investigation into the murder of a witness in another cheating case.

In her response, Anzalone's Phoenix lawyer, Christine Manno, contended that the requests for records are not unreasonable and well within her rights to discover evidence on Anzalone's behalf.

Manno accused the attorney general's office of stonewalling her requests for months now. Del Papa, she said, also has been ducking attempts to have her give a sworn deposition in the suit.

"Justice and fair play require these documents be produced," Manno wrote. "The truth is locked up in the office of the attorney general under the direct control of the defendants."

Manno argued that if the Harris file is not turned over, it will send a message that the courts are willing to allow a potential abuse of power within the attorney general's office.

"If the chief law-enforcement office has been conducting illegal intelligence investigations against the Gaming Control Board, the very board they are supposed to represent, the citizens of the state of Nevada must know," she said.

Manno also suggested that Del Papa was being "disingenuous" in her contention that she's withholding the records to preserve the casino industry's reputation.

"If the defendants' goal was to protect the gaming industry, they would not have been conducting an intelligence investigation into the chairman of the Gaming Control Board," Manno said.

"Further, if the defendants were so concerned about the gaming industry, they would have taken more precautions to guarantee that the videotapes of Ron Harris' interrogation, which were detrimental to the gaming industry ... never reached the media."

Anzalone has not been alone in his push to pry open the Harris case.

Even Bible, who suspects the Harris investigation veered off course, has called upon Del Papa to go public with the file.

"Now that all the criminal matters involving Mr. Harris have been resolved, I think the attorney general's office should release the entire investigative file, including the videotaped debriefing of Mr. Harris, to the public," Bible said in February after Anzalone had filed suit against Del Papa.

The Sun also has asked Del Papa to open the case.

Bible, who retired in September after 10 years at the helm of the Control Board, has been feuding with Del Papa the past several years.

He blames Del Papa for allowing the unsubstantiated Harris tapes to get into the hands of the national media.

In his suit, Anzalone contended that he got caught in the middle of the rift between the two political heavyweights.

He said he once refused a request by Thompson to obtain Bible's telephone and bank records.

Bible, now a member of the Nevada Ethics Commission, also sits on the National Gambling Impact Study Commission.

That nine-member panel, which holds a hearing in Las Vegas next month, has been studying the social and economic impact of gambling across the country.