Suffolk Superior Court Judge Janet L. Sanders ruled on Monday that the Boston city administration had violated court orders by using litigation as a tool in the city’s ongoing legal battle with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission and gambling operator Wynn Resorts.
The major casino company had been awarded the sole gaming license for the state’s capital region and is to build a $1.7-billion hotel and casino resort on the Everett waterfront.
Judge Sanders issued a two-page order, in which she rebuked Boston Mayor Marty Walsh’s office for filing legal documents last month pointing to “bad faith” and improper acts in the Region A licensing process.
According to the Superior Court judge, city officials failed to follow certain court orders by including the afore-mentioned allegations in their paperwork. The documents were filed on July 10, mere hours before a hearing before Judge Sanders was scheduled to take place. In addition, the Walsh administration did not let the involved parties take a look at the papers.
Judge Sanders ruled that Boston officials’ pleadings were improper and unrelated to what was to be discussed during the hearing. She also pointed out that she would remove any paperwork that was in any way anti-Wynn from the lawsuit’s public file. The issue is expected to re-appear in the litigation later on, but Judge Sunders said that it would not be part of the public record or at least not until the Walsh administration submits the documents in the proper manner.
Once the ruling was issued, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission asked for the case to be dismissed. Mayor Walsh did not immediately comment on the matter but his office released a statement which said that Boston officials still consider the city a host community to the future Wynn Resorts casino and that it is of the utmost importance to them to protect the interest of Boston residents.
According to the statement, the gambling venue will have enormous impact on the Charlestown neighborhood and city officials considered seeking litigation “the only way to move forward.”
Judge Sanders’ ruling came soon after US Attorney Carmen Ortiz rebuked Mayor Walsh and his administration for purposefully trying to prevent the Everett casino project from being completed. The city has previously filed lawsuits alleging that two former State Police Superior Officers were improperly allowed access to confidential files concerning Charles A. Lightbody.
Mr. Lightbody is a convicted felon and had once owned a portion of the land where the Wynn Resorts casino is to be located. Federal prosecutors denied those allegations, attaching sworn statements from both officer to their seven-page filing.
