Dann sued over game machines

The suit alleges Dann helped coordinate raids in violation of a court order.

STAFF/WIRE REPORT

COLUMBUS — The distributor of a gaming machine whose proliferation led to a recent gambling crackdown in Ohio filed a lawsuit Monday asking a judge to find the former attorney general in contempt of court for seizing machines and company bank accounts.

Ohio Skill Games, distributor of the Tic-Tac-Fruit game, says Marc Dann, a Democrat from Liberty Township, and the Ohio Department of Public Safety violated a November 2006 order from the Franklin County Common Pleas Court that prevented them from seizing any of the machines until further notice.

The distributor said in a filing with the same court Monday that Dann, as chairman of the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission, helped coordinate a task force of local law enforcement agencies that conducted raids in violation of the order.

Dann’s office had agreed to return the property and frozen funds after court challenges to the judge’s standing were rebuffed.

Ohio Skill Games also claims that Dann violated another order that prevented the information about how the machines worked from being shared with anyone except the attorneys involved in the case. The distributor claims Dann shared the information with law enforcement agencies that conducted the raids, and published the details in search warrants.

The filing seeks compensation for legal fees involved in challenging the seizure of the property, as well as any other compensation the court deems appropriate.

It said raids of the homes and businesses of the distributors “caused financial difficulty, personal and business hardships, emotional stress, discomfort, damage and legal fees.”

The attorney general’s office, led by Nancy Hardin Rogers after Dann resigned last month, didn’t have sufficient time to review the filings to comment, said spokesman Ted Hart.

The 2006 order was an effort to maintain the status quo between the state and a user of the machines, which was trying to get the court to declare them legal. It first ordered the attorney general’s office not to seize any additional Tic-Tac-Fruit machines. It was later modified to prevent the introduction of any more of the machines.

At the time of the order, Ohio law allowed so-called games of skill but banned games that were based on chance.

The Ohio Legislature passed a bill late last year that narrowed the law and unquestionably banned games such as Tic-Tac-Fruit. The new law made the initial lawsuit moot.

Dann resigned May 14 when the state inspector general began an investigation into the attorney general’s office, an investigation sparked by allegations of sexual harassment against one of Dann’s appointees.

In addition, the Ohio secretary of state’s office is questioning the legitimacy of several of Dann’s campaign expenses.