Rio ordered to release guests’ names for suit

Erica D. Johnson

Thursday, Sept. 11, 2003 | 9:41 a.m.

The Rio will be forced to turn over hotel records detailing who stayed in a suite the night before a family who claims their infant swallowed a used condom in the room.

A discovery commissioner on Wednesday ordered attorneys for the hotel to hand over the names of the person or people who occupied the suite before Allen Casey and his family checked in on March 8.

Casey's 9-month-old son allegedly choked on a used condom he found on the floor of the suite.

The family has filed suit against the hotel in District Court, alleging negligence and emotional distress. A trial date is set for Oct. 12, 2004.

Attorneys for the Rio had refused to hand over the room records, citing privacy issues.

Terry Coffing, an attorney for the family, said the records were necessary to determine where the condom came from.

The records could also help determine whether the condom could have exposed the infant to any harmful diseases, he said.

"The way this condom was stored, virtually any traces of a disease would have been lost to testing," Coffing said. "We need to find the source of the condom."

Rio officials allegedly had the condom frozen and sent to a lab for testing. It was not clear what those tests revealed.

James Armstrong, an attorney for the Rio, did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment. He has until Oct. 10 to appeal the order.

Discovery Commissioner Thomas Bigger made the ruling during what's known as a dispute resolution conference. Rulings and recommendations made by the discovery commission become court order, Coffing said.

Casey, Caroline Scruggs and their son were guests at the Rio on March 8. The couple have homes in both Las Vegas and Chicago.

In an interview with the Sun, the couple said Nicholas had crawled over to the television and looked like he was trying to pull a plug out of the wall when they noticed the infant was choking.

The baby had found a discarded condom on the floor and he put it in his mouth, Casey said, and he was choking and turning red.

The child was rushed to the emergency room, but no visible injuries were discovered.

Coffing said he is not sure why attorneys for the Rio initially refused to hand over the hotel records detailing who had occupied the room prior to Casey's family.

He said that if Nicholas had obtained a loaded gun that was left by former guests, "the Rio would be quick to point the finger."

"A used condom in some circumstances can be worse than a loaded gun," he said. "It makes us wonder who they are protecting."

Since the incident, Nicholas has undergone several tests for sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV and hepatitis and is scheduled to undergo more in the coming months, Coffing said.

"Thus far the child is healthy," he said. "But there are lot of things we won't know for a period of time."