Twin B. Casinos, Inc. v. State ex rel. Louisiana Gaming Control Board

809 So. 2d 995, 2000 La.App. 1 Cir. 1681, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 2054, 2001 WL 1149877
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 28, 2001
DocketNo. 2000 CA 1681
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 809 So. 2d 995 (Twin B. Casinos, Inc. v. State ex rel. Louisiana Gaming Control Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Twin B. Casinos, Inc. v. State ex rel. Louisiana Gaming Control Board, 809 So. 2d 995, 2000 La.App. 1 Cir. 1681, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 2054, 2001 WL 1149877 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

LIAN W. CLAIBORNE, Judge Pro Tern.

This appeal involves the denial of an application for a video gaming license. The Louisiana State Police, Video Gaming Division (the Division), recommended that the video gaming application of Twin B. Casinos, Inc., d/b/a America’s Sports Bar (the business), be denied, because the sole owner of the business provided false and/or inaccurate responses concerning prior arrests on the application. The business owner, Mr. Doyle Copell (the appellant), requested an administrative hearing before a hearing officer for the Louisiana Gaming Control Board (the Board). The hearing officer ruled that the appellant should be granted a video gaming license. The Division filed an appeal with the [997]*997Board, and after a hearing the decision of the hearing officer was reversed, thereby denying the appellant’s license application. The appellant petitioned for judicial review of the Board’s decision in the district court, and requested a declaratory judgment declaring La. R.S. 27:310 and sections of the video gaming application unconstitutional. The district court affirmed the denial of the license application and denied the declaratory judgment. The appellant now appeals the decision of the district court. We affirm.

FACTS

The relevant facts are not in dispute. On October 11, 1988, in Iberia Parish, the appellant was arrested and charged with terrorizing, a crime punishable by imprisonment up to 15 years. See La. R.S. 14:40.1. The appellant was never prosecuted for the alleged offense. He discovered the arrest was still on his record when he filed for a liquor license for his place of business in 1998. The appellant subsequently petitioned for and was successful in having his record expunged on September 10, 1998. Public record of the arrest was expunged and erased pursuant to La. R.S. 44:9.

IsShortly after the expungement of the arrest, on November 17, 1998, the appellant filed a video gaming application with the Board, in order to obtain a Type 1 Video Gaming License. In the application, the appellant indicated that he had never been arrested, charged or summoned to answer for any criminal offense or violation for any reason whatsoever, regardless of the disposition or final outcome of the arrest or charge. Question 11(A) of the video gaming application asked in pertinent part:

Has any owner (sole proprietorship), ... ever been arrested, charged, indicted, or summoned, though never physically arrested, to answer for any criminal offense or violation for any reason whatsoever, in any state, country, or other jurisdiction, regardless of the disposition or final outcome of the arrest, charge, indictment, or summons? All arrests, charges, indictments, or summons must be included, even if the final result was dismissal, nolle prosecution, or acquittal. All convictions must be included, even if the final result was dismissal, none prosecution, or acquittal, and all convictions must be included, even if the conviction has been expunged from conviction records through either Article 893, Article 894, or R.S. 44:9, regardless of whether someone has previously stated to a person that a conviction expunged through either Article 893, Article 894 or R.S. 44:9, need not be disclosed. (Emphasis added.)

The appellant also responded in the application that he had never had a civil or criminal record expunged or sealed by any court. Question 11(E) of the video gaming application asked in pertinent part:

Has any owner (sole proprietorship), ... ever had a civil or criminal record expunged either by Article 893, Article 894, or R.S. 44:9, or sealed by any other court order in any state, country, or other jurisdiction? If Yes, provide details on a separate sheet of paper. (Emphasis added.)

Master Trooper Lionel Meyers of the Division conducted a background investigation regarding the appellant’s application for the video gaming license. He discovered the appellant’s prior arrest and expunged record. Trooper Meyers interviewed the appellant on January 25, 1999, at the appellant’s place of business. In the interview, Trooper Meyers reviewed the application with the appellant to make sure it was correct. A few changes (the name of a bar employee and the | ¿business’ federal tax identification number) were made; [998]*998however, the appellant did not alter his “No” responses to Questions 11(A) and (E) on the application. Various other questions were also dated and initialed by the appellant at Trooper Meyers’ request. Trooper Meyers read the questions regarding prior arrests and expunged records to the appellant, and emphasized the word “expunged.” The appellant indicated to Trooper Meyers that he understood the questions and that he had never been arrested and did not have anything else to add. Trooper Meyers requested that the appellant initial and date Question 11(A) and initial Question 11(E) on the original application. After the interview, Trooper Meyers recommended that the appellant’s application for the video gaming license be denied, because the investigation had revealed the undisclosed October 11, 1988 arrest and charge for terrorizing, along with the undisclosed September 10, 1998 order to expunge the arrest and charge from the public records. The recommendation for denial was based on the appellant’s lack of honesty in failing to disclose the prior arrest and the expunged record.

By letter dated May 13, 1999, the appellant was notified of the recommendation that his application be denied. He timely requested an administrative hearing before a hearing officer of the Board. The administrative hearing took place on August 31, 1999, wherein both the appellant and Trooper Meyers testified. The hearing officer ruled immediately upon conclusion of the testimony to grant the appellant the video gaming license. The hearing officer based his ruling on his interpretation of La. R.S. 27:310(A), which mandates ineligibility for gaming licenses when applicants have been convicted, within ten years prior to the date of the application for the license, of an offense punishable by imprisonment for more than one year. The appellant’s arrest was more than ten years prior to the date of the application, therefore the hearing officer ruled that the | ^appellant should not be held to divulge information on the application regarding that arrest.

The Division filed an appeal with the Board, and on January 19, 2000, the Board reversed the decision of the hearing officer, thereby denying the appellant’s license application. The Board found the hearing officer’s application of La. R.S. 27:310 to be erroneous, stating “[a] conviction ten years prior to application may not be an automatic disqualification but is required to be disclosed and can be considered in determining suitability, as can an arrest or a series of arrests, convictions, etc. under La. R.S. 27:310.” The Board found the appellant to be “unsuitable under La. R.S. 27:310(B) for his lack of honesty in knowingly making a false statement on his application.” The appellant appealed the Board’s decision to the district court and also challenged the constitutionality of sections of the application and of La. R.S. 27:310. The district court held a hearing on the matter and after hearing the argument of counsel and reviewing the transcript of the administrative hearing, the entire record, and the applicable law, denied the petition for declaratory judgment seeking to have sections of the gaming application and La. R.S. 27:310 declared unconstitutional.

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809 So. 2d 995, 2000 La.App. 1 Cir. 1681, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 2054, 2001 WL 1149877, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/twin-b-casinos-inc-v-state-ex-rel-louisiana-gaming-control-board-lactapp-2001.