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‘Court no intention to forestall casino vetting process’
Superior Court Associate Judge David A. Wiseman has stated that the court has no intention of further forestalling the evolution of the casino license application and vetting process.
The court prefers to let the Lottery Commission’s issuance of any casino license go forward without preliminarily ruling on its legality or validity as a matter of law, said Wiseman in an order on Friday that denied a motion for preliminary injunction filed by casino applicant Marianas Stars Entertainment.
The injunction seeks to stop Gov. Eloy S. Inos, the CNMI government, and co-defendants from issuing a casino license unless and until all aspects of the casino law are first complied with, such as the Casino Commission’s required involvement in the applicant investigation and the issuance of regulations.
Wiseman said the court recognizes that granting the injunction at this juncture would frustrate the critical government process the Legislature has instituted in order to arrive at a fair and safe conclusion in a venture of this magnitude.
Wiseman agreed with Inos and co-defendants that permitting the application process to continue will allow the CNMI to properly assess whether any of the applicants meet all of the necessary criteria.
The judge also agreed with Inos and co-defendants that if neither meets those criteria within the 90-day period provided by the Legislature, the newly formed Casino Commission may institute a new process for the investigation, issue a new request for proposal to attract new applicants, and award the sole casino license.
In their motion for preliminary injunction, Marianas Stars counsel Sean Frink, argued, among other things, that an injunction will preserve the status quo, leaving the $30 million that the company and the other casino license applicant, Best Sunshine Ltd., deposited in escrow pending the eventual “lawful” issuance of a casino license.
