Del Papa not personally liable for firing

Wednesday, June 27, 2001 | 11:08 a.m.

District Judge James Mahan delivered a blow to Mike Anzalone's defamation and wrongful termination lawsuit Tuesday.

Mahan ruled that Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa cannot be held personally liable for Anzalone's well-publicized 1996 forced resignation as an investigator for Del Papa's office.

Del Papa, however, remains in the suit, which is scheduled for trial July 10, as a defendant in her official capacity.

Anzalone filed the suit against Del Papa and several of her deputies in February 1998, alleging that he was forced out because he refused to unlawfully seek the bank records of then-Gaming Control Board Chairman Bill Bible in a secret intelligence probe of Del Papa's political enemy.

Del Papa denied that such an investigation was conducted, and in a letter to the Sun she contended that Anzalone was let go because she had lost confidence in his investigative abilities.

Anzalone later charged in his suit that Del Papa defamed him in the letter.

But in his brief decision, Mahan said he believed that Del Papa indeed had lost confidence in Anzalone.

Anzalone's Phoenix lawyer, Christine Manno, said Tuesday she was "extremely disappointed" with Mahan's ruling.

"It's my belief that the jury should determine the reason for Mr. Anzalone's termination," Manno said. "It's our contention that he was terminated for refusing to commit a crime for the attorney general."

Manno said she was trying to determine whether she could appeal Mahan's decision and what effect it would have on her case, which is built around the intelligence probe claims.

The attorney general's office, meanwhile, demanded that Mahan, who is in line for an appointment to the federal bench, delay next month's trial until it can appeal the judge's previous decision not to grant a change of venue to Reno.

Del Papa's deputies contend her office can't get a fair trial in Las Vegas because of the publicity, primarily in the Sun, surrounding the case.

Mahan has agreed to hear the matter on July 9.

Though Del Papa has denied conducting an intelligence investigation, documents uncovered in Anzalone's suit seem to dispute that claim.

The records disclosed that background and other investigative checks were done on Bible and other top gaming regulators from 1996 until 1998.

Bible, president of the influential Nevada Resort Association, the casino industry's political arm, has been at odds with Del Papa since a 1995 clash at the Nevada Legislature.

One "confidential intelligence report," written in December 1996 by former Del Papa investigator Ron Wheatley, suggested that Bible and other top Nevada officials, such as then-Gov. Bob Miller and Sens. Harry Reid and Richard Bryan, could be bribed to influence gaming applications.

The uncorroborated report also claimed that the Central Intelligence Agency was using the gaming industry to launder money.

All four officials have condemned the report, which was turned over to the FBI in 1997 while Bible was being considered for his presidential appointment to the National Gambling Impact Study Commission. The FBI earlier this year said it found no merit to the report's claims.

Bible, who has publicly criticized the attorney general for prying into his background, was scheduled to give a sworn deposition in the lawsuit last month, but the deposition was abruptly called off by Del Papa's deputies.