Macon County Casino civil trial now in jury's hands

After a two hour delay while attorneys tied up loose ends with paperwork, closing arguments finally got under way for the Macon County Casino civil trial.

Up first for the plaintiffs was Lucky Palace attorney Stephen Heninger.

Heninger stood directly in front of the eight jurors and plotted out the case on the same timeline used in testimony for the trial, all the while asking "Who's at the table?"

Heninger explained the number of conflicts of interest at the heart of the case and stated it all started with a meeting between Milton McGregor, Macon County Sheriff David Warren and Warren's attorney, Fred Gray Jr.

At the table, Heninger stated, were not just those three men. There were John Bolton and David Johnston in Milton McGregor's corner - both VictoryLand attorneys who were tasked by McGregor to assist Fred Gray Jr. in writing the rules and regulations to govern electronic bingo in Macon County. In Fred Gray Jr.'s corner was his father, Fred Gray Sr., an attorney on retainer for VictoryLand - Gray Sr. testified to the court that VictoryLand was the Gray Law Firm's biggest client. Heninger then explained that the sheriff was on his own; he was relying on the help of the other men due to his admitted lack of knowledge of electronic bingo.

Heninger stated that all Lucky Palace wanted was the assurance that should they build the facility, Sheriff Warren would license it. Using Warren's own testimony the attorney stated that they never got those assurances, not until he testified on the stand and by then it was too late.

Heninger admitted aggression on the behalf of his client - his client went after Sheriff Warren and even used the phrase "let the dogs loose." They were going to let the dogs loose on Sheriff Warren. He stated that was harsh, but done so they could be given the same opportunities as Milton McGregor and VictoryLand.

Following Heninger for the plaintiffs was Robert Spotswood for the 15 Macon County charities named in the lawsuit.

"It's taken us a long time to get here," explained Spotswood. "It's been five and a half years and thousands of hours of work. We're very happy that this trial is almost at an end."

Spotswood explained that the damages being sought are not against Sheriff Warren - they are against Milton McGregor and VictoryLand. The charities are asking for $3.173 Million in damages which breaks down to $211,000 per charity.

"These charities are out working hard in the community. They do their work for Macon County. They were supposed to be the beneficiaries in the first place," said Spotswood.

He then added that Sheriff Warren denied the charities equal protection as guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution by denying them the same licenses that were issued to VictoryLand.

"This qualified location business is a shame," said Spotswood.

The attorney told the jury that the sheriff misapplied the rules - the rules stated there only had to be a qualified location "while bingo games are in operation." Spotswood said there was no rational reason for Sheriff Warren to do so.

"The conduct here is reprehensible," said Spotswood. The conduct to save the charities was subverted - that's why Spotswood asked the jury for punitive damages of three times the compensatory damages - to punish Milton McGregor and VictoryLand for wrongdoing.

After a brief break, James Anderson, the attorney for Sheriff Warren addressed the jury.

Anderson explained that under the constitutional amendment that allowed electronic bingo in Macon County gave Sheriff Warren the right and the duty to draft whatever rules he wanted.

As to the claims being made by the plaintiffs with regard to the drafting of the rules, he explained how drafting a will works. The client consults with an attorney when that client wants a will. The client tells the attorney specifically what they want drafted. That attorney then goes and finds a form that lays out that will, and even gets assistance from other attorneys. Once the will is drafted, the attorney goes over it with the client, and if the client likes it, the client likes it and it becomes theirs. Anderson said that's exactly what happened in this case with regard to the electronic bingo rules.

Anderson also told jurors that Sheriff Warren wanted the provision in the rules that required a building before licenses would be granted.

"The sheriff wanted to know that someone was going to make a significant investment into Macon County," said Anderson.

He also added that the rules weren't in question in this case, and that his client was following those rules.

"Sheriff Warren was just doing the best that he could do, to do his job."

VictoryLand attorney Peter Tepley addressed the jury next and told the jury what the case wasn't about. Tepley said the case wasn't about the fact that VictoryLand made a lot of money. And the case wasn't about the rules, or if those rules belonged to the sheriff. Sheriff Warren testified that the rules were his.

Tepley told jurors that if the rules were Warren's, then they'd have to throw out the torturous interference claims against his client.

"Sheriff Warren testified that he was the one who wanted a pre-existing building," explained Tepley. "John Bolton testified that Sheriff Warren also wanted the "60 Charity Maximum" that Lucky Palace says shut them out."

He told the court that any group, be it VictoryLand, MCI or Lucky Palace had the right to try and have input into those rules. Tepley said the evidence was pretty clear that Lucky Palace took the same efforts to change the rules for their own organization.

"When that didn't work, what did they do? They tried to replace the sheriff," said Tepley.

Tepley re-iterated inconsistencies about management within Lucky Palace to the jury and explained the rules, and the timeline for the creation of those rules. He pointed out the financial situation that Lucky Palace and its lenders were in and the result that situation would've had on Lucky Palace's assumed profits.

Tepley asked jurors to weigh the evidence, and if they did, they would find VictoryLand and Milton McGregor not guilty of charges levied against them.

The final attorneys for the defense, Augusta Dowd and Mark White, spoke to the jurors on behalf of their client, Milton McGregor.

Dowd pointed out that Lucky Palace never had a building.

"It was all talk," said Dowd.

She explained that Lucky Palace knew it had to have a building, otherwise it wouldn't have worked to change the rules. It was even stipulated by the attorneys for the purpose of this case that a building was needed.

"All they had was a house of cards," said Dowd. "They want to blame Sheriff David Warren, Milton McGregor and VictoryLand for the collapse of that dream."

Dowd also said that McGregor was never afraid of competition. He was never afraid of taking a risk. And he did by creating his facility before he knew he could get a license.

"He took a risk that Lucky Palace wouldn't take," said Dowd.

White spoke about the conflicts of interest alleged by the plaintiffs. He pointed out that the law firm used by Lucky Palace had similar relationships as they also represented the Native American casinos and even the Governor's Task Force on Illegal Gambling.

White said if those were true conflicts of interest, the men who took the stand wouldn't have represented their occupations as attorneys, they would be former attorneys.

"That's what we do to lawyers who do that," said White.

Heninger was allotted a short rebuttal following the defendant's arguments. He pointed out that Bradley Arant, the law firm White spoke about, was the largest law firm in the stand and therefore not to be compared to the Gray Law Firm.

As to McGregor's risk before getting his license, he pointed out to the jurors that they saw no plans of what McGregor built. This went to the theme of transparency that was discussed by both sides.

"They want this shadow to hang over you," said Heninger of the defense attorneys. "I trust that in the end, it will not…When this case is over I want you to be able to look into the mirror and say, 'I did my duty.' "

Heninger asked the jury to follow the law and facts in the case to get to the truth.

That law was then explained as the jurors were "charged" as to the laws pertaining to the case.

Following the charge the case was officially handed over to the jurors at 7:28 p.m.

Copyright 2012  WSFA 12 News.  All rights reserved.