Lord Abbett suit against task force still alive on appeal

By: Lance Griffin | Dothan Eagle
Published: December 15, 2011

A lawsuit against former Gov. Bob Riley and his task force on illegal gambling filed by the investment fund that owns Country Crossing bond money remains alive in federal appeals court, almost a year after a federal district court judge dismissed the suit.

The Lord Abbett Municipal Income Fund filed the suit in U.S. District Court in 2010 against Riley and Task Force Commander John Tyson, claiming the threat of a raid at Country Crossing had led to the development’s closing and impeded the ability of the development to repay pledged revenues through electronic bingo fees, even though the development had a bond validation order from Houston County Circuit Court.

U.S. District Judge William Keith Watkins dismissed the suit in January, claiming in part that the development chose to close voluntarily and that it could not be shown that the task force was responsible. Watkins also ruled there was no actionable claim because no electronic bingo machines had been seized.

“Such an allegation ignores a central link in the causation chain: The fund’s injury is the direct result of a decision made by Country Crossing to close all of its operations. Glaringly absent in the amended complaint is any mention of the entity or person who made the decision to close Country Crossing,” Watkins wrote.

Attorneys for Lord Abbett claim on appeal that Watkins misapplied the law in reaching his decision.

“While the district court concluded that the electronic bingo machines were shuttered due to Country Crossing’s ‘voluntary decision,’ the court overlooked overwhelming and largely undisputed evidence of government coercion that forced Country Crossing to close its doors,” the fund’s attorneys wrote in their appeal brief. “It is precisely this policy of the Government about which the fund complains in this case. The refusal by the Alabama judiciary to allow Country Crossing and the fund to obtain a hearing on the legality of any particular electronic bingo equipment revenues unless they submit to a forfeiture action, arrest and conviction, violates due process.”

Oral arguments on the matter took place Nov. 16. No ruling has been made.

Two days prior to the oral arguments, the trustee for the Country Crossing bonds announced the bonds were in default.