Ousted Foxwoods Group Makes Oral Plea In Pa. Court To Get Back Casino License
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) - Lawyers representing the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and investors in the foundering Foxwoods casino project made their arguments today before a state appeals court as the investors seek to overturn the board's decision to revoke their casino license.
As they listened to the arguments, the seven members of the Commonwealth Court panel seemed to wrestle with the degree of latitude that had been exercised by the gaming board in revoking Foxwoods' license.
James Eisenhower, an attorney representing the board, told the court the board has wide latitude:
"We feel very confident that we did exercise the proper discretion and did the right thing," he told KYW Newsradio afterward.
But attorney Steven Cozen, representing the Foxwoods investors, was encouraged by the judges' questions.
"At least my impression was they were not buying into Mr. Eisenhower's kind of unprecedented argument that it's good to be the board because you can do whatever you want to do," he said.
Chief among Cozen's arguments is that the gaming board denied Foxwoods' investors due process by not holding hearings to listen to evidence before taking their license.
A ruling on the case is not expected for several weeks.
Reported by KYW Harrisburg bureau chief Tony Romeo