Judge, lawyer in libel suit to view Adelson file

By Jeff German

Thursday, Oct. 9, 2008 | 2 a.m.

State gaming regulators carefully guard the fruits of their background investigations on license applicants.

By state law, the documents are confidential to protect the privacy of the applicants.

But in a rare order, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Bruce Markell has instructed the Nevada Gaming Control Board to show him behind closed doors the entire investigative report it did on Sheldon Adelson when the casino mogul applied for his first license, at the old Sands Hotel, in 1989.

Even rarer, the judge is allowing an attorney for Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist John L. Smith, who filed for bankruptcy after Adelson sued him for libel, to be in the room as he pores over the file.

Attorneys Don Campbell and Richard McKnight had subpoenaed the Adelson records as part of their defense of Smith against the libel suit stemming from his book, “Sharks in the Desert.” The Control Board resisted. Background files can contain derogatory information about an applicant.

Veteran gaming lawyers can’t recall another time in the past 25 years when the board has been ordered to turn over investigative files for inspection in a civil suit.

Campbell confirmed that Markell will review the Adelson file Friday, but otherwise declined to comment. The judge said one attorney each from the Control Board and Adelson’s legal team also can be present.

Markell said he will determine whether any documents should be turned over to Smith’s lawyers, and no one other than he will be able to take notes during the inspection.

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Attorney John Momot says he’s looking forward to defending William “Bob” Gilbert on criminal theft and misconduct charges stemming from his job as the College of Southern Nevada’s construction chief.

“We have very viable defenses to all of the counts,” Momot said Wednesday just before Gilbert, associate vice president of facilities management, entered a not guilty plea at the Regional Justice Center. “We welcome a jury trial.”

Momot will get his wish.

District Court Hearing Master Kevin Williams set a March 23 trial date for Gilbert and three other college employees charged in a scheme to steal CSN materials and equipment to build Gilbert’s Mount Charleston home.

Matthew Goins, the college’s facilities manager, and George Casal, a construction inspector, also pleaded not guilty. Construction manager Thad Skinner entered a not guilty plea last week. All four have been placed on paid leave.

Chief Deputy Attorney General Conrad Hafen told Williams that his office has 51 3-foot-long boxes of evidence that can be turned over to the defense at a copying cost to the defense of $14,000.

Hafen said the investigation is now eyeing several employees of a private company that did work for Gilbert and CSN.