Judge rules against topless club

Jace Radke

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2003 | 10:53 a.m.

After reviewing documents taken by FBI agents from the Crazy Horse Too topless club, a federal judge has ruled that the club's attorneys failed to prove the government violated the club's constitutional rights.

U.S. Magistrate Peggy Leen ruling did leave the door open for future argument on whether agents exceeded the scope of a search warrant by taking legal documents from the club during a Feb. 20 raid in connection with an investigation into possible ties between the club and organized crime.

"If and when a criminal prosecution is initiated as a result of this investigation... (the club's owner) will have every opportunity to raise any legal issue related to the validity of the search warrants and their execution," Leen's order states. "The court declines to make any findings that certain of the materials that were seized were or were not authorized to be seized by these search warrants."

No charges have been filed against the club in connection with the raid, and Leen ruled that challenges to the search warrants should come if criminal charges are pursued and the warrants are unsealed.

Anthony Sgro, the lawyer representing Rick Rizzolo, the owner of the club, alleged that the FBI reviewed privileged legal documents and violated Rizzolo's Sixth Amendment rights. Sgro further alleged that the FBI had refused to return original copies of some of the seized items to justify the highly publicized raid of the club.

Sgro had asked Leen to order the return of the seized items and to hold the two FBI agents overseeing the case in contempt for not revealing at a March 6 hearing that they reviewed documents that Sgro said are protected by attorney-client privilege.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Johnson maintained that the files at issue were not clearly identifiable as legal in nature, and were intermingled with financial and other types of records covered by the search warrant.

Attorneys for the Crazy Horse Too did "not establish that the government acted in a callous disregard of its constitutional rights," the order states.

According to the written order, a lack of preparation and insufficient review of seized items by the government were the cause of the delayed return of documents that Sgro identified as legal, not a deliberate or willful disregard of the court's order.

Leen also ruled that the club has received copies of documents that Sgro has requested be returned, and has, "failed to establish that copies of the documents would not fulfill its business needs."

She added that any original documents needed for evidentiary purposes by the club in pending civil cases will be made available by the government.

Among the original files that the club had wanted returned is one relating to a lawsuit filed by a Kansas City man who alleges that his neck was broken in a September 2001 altercation with a bouncer at the Crazy Horse Too. The suit, filed by Kirk Henry in District Court, is pending.

Another file relates to a lawsuit by the family of a California man found dead near the club in August 1995. The family of Scott Fau alleged that he was beaten to death by the club's bouncers. In January a jury sided with the club in the case.