Trial set in alleged secret probe by Del Papa

Thursday, Jan. 25, 2001 | 10:59 a.m.

A 3-year-old lawsuit alleging that Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa conducted a secret intelligence investigation of gaming regulators is heading to trial this summer.

District Judge James Mahan has set a July 10 trial date.

The suit was filed against Del Papa and her office by Mike Anzalone, a former Del Papa investigator, in February 1998.

Anzalone alleged that Del Papa forced him to resign in 1996 after he had refused to participate in the intelligence probe, which targeted then-Gaming Control Board Chairman Bill Bible and others.

Bible, now president of the influential Nevada Resort Association, the casino industry's political arm, was at odds with Del Papa at the time of the investigation.

Anzalone's Phoenix lawyer, Christine Manno, said Wednesday that she was looking forward to the trial.

"I'm just glad that we're finally going to get the case heard after three long years," Manno said. "I believe the attorney general's office has been stonewalling the case because they don't want it to be heard on its merits."

Deputy Attorney General David Wasick, who is defending the suit, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Before the case goes to trial, Mahan will have to rule on a motion by the attorney general's office to dismiss the suit. A Feb. 26 hearing has been set.

The secret Bible inquiry, which never resulted in any charges, sprang from the criminal probe into the slot cheating activities of Ron Harris, a former Control Board computer expert.

Harris pleaded guilty in August 1996 and gave Del Papa confidant and Deputy Attorney General David Thompson derogatory information on the Control Board agents who had helped Anzalone build the case against the board's former electronics whiz.

Months earlier, independent of Harris, Thompson sought to substantiate allegations that Bible had taken bribes.

Bible, who served at the helm of the Control Board for 10 years, the longest of anyone in history, had voiced concerns at the 1995 Nevada Legislature about the quality of the legal advice Del Papa's office was giving the board.

The heart of Del Papa's intelligence investigation was revealed in a secret, 21-page report that Mahan made public in April.

Del Papa's office was obligated to turn over the report to Anzalone as a result of the lawsuit.

Last month, Del Papa faced tough questions about the intelligence probe during a sworn videotaped deposition in Las Vegas.

The attorney general contends she had "limited knowledge" about the case, and she has accused Manno of "demeaning" her by forcing the videotaping.

Del Papa also said the Anzalone suit has had "serious political overtones for her."

Del Papa bowed out of the 2000 U.S. Senate race amid growing questions about the intelligence investigation.

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