Judge Scolds Boston for Gaming Commission Lawsuit

Planned Wynn casino in Everett. Rendering by Wynn.

The ongoing legal saga over the planned $1.7 billion Wynn Resorts casino in Everett continues.

On Monday, a Suffolk Superior Court judge trashed the Walsh administration’s lawsuit against the Massachusetts State Gaming Commission for violating court rules and using its courts filings in such a way that they mimicked a public relations campaign.

Judge Janet L. Sanders said in a two page order that the city improperly filed numerous documents in July and ordered them impounded. Sanders said that “the real motive for these filings” was to appeal to the media, not make an argument in court.

Boston filed documents in July  arguing there was “bad faith” and “improper behavior” in the eastern Massachusetts casino licensing process.

Sanders said that the filings were made in such a way that the court, along with the defendant, could not review them in time before the hearing.

“The defendant, which had no real opportunity to respond to the voluminous submissions, orally moved to strike these pleadings. Agreeing that the pleadings were entirely improper, the court allowed that motion,” said Sanders.

Sanders strong words about Boston’s lawsuit prompted the commission to file for dismissal of the lawsuit on July 31. The motion described portions of the city’s lawsuit as “scattershot” and “extraordinarily long.”

The strong words from state court about the city’s lawsuit come not long after U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz blasted the city for its “vicious” lawsuit against the commission.

The city is alleging that retired Massachusetts state troopers had access to a “wiretap room” in the attorney general’s office and gained improper access to a host of files on convicted felon Charles Lightbody of Revere.

Lightbody is at the center of a controversial deal for the land that the Wynn casino will rise from. Lightbody, along with two associates, Dustin DeNunzio of Cambridge and Anthony Gattineri of Winchester, were charged in federal court for fraud when they allegedly concealed Lightbody’s ties to the property.

The next hearing on the lawsuit in state court is scheduled for September 22.