A status report requesting that a federal judge put off a final decision regarding the casino case in Yuba County, California?was filed by an attorney for the Colusa Casino tribe in U.S. District Court in Sacramento on Monday, according to the Appeal Democrat.
The attorney, George Forman, is requesting that Judge Troy Nunley delay acting on the case until such time as conflicting decisions issued by two appellate court cases are sorted out.
A month after Nunley decided in favor of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Interior Department in their decision to place 40 acres into trust for the Enterprise Rancheria of Maidu Indians for the purpose of building a gaming resort, the Cachil Dehe Band of Wintun Indians of the Colusa Indian Community requested that Nunely reconsider his decision.
The two tribes have been waiting a year for Nunley to rule on the request by the Colusa tribe. In the interim, conflicting decisions have been issued by two appellate courts in cases challenging the authority of California Governor Jerry Brown to agree with the decision by the federal government to take the land located along Forty Mile Road into trust. The governor’s action was upheld by the 3rd District, while the the 5th District Court of Appeal overruled Brown.
In the filing on Monday, Forman said that the two cases “have the potential to fundamentally alter the legal foundation of the (federal government’s) decision to accept the Yuba County parcel into trust for gaming …,” according to the news agency. Forman told the judge that the appellate cases “now militate in favor of deferring action on Colusa’s motion,” and that it was likely that both of the cases would be headed to the state Supreme Court for appeal.
The attorney wrote, “However (and whenever) this court may rule on Colusa’s pending motion for reconsideration, this court’s final judgment almost certainly will be appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals,” as reported by the news agency.
According to Forman, the delay would avoid litigation, when rulings from the other cases would effectively make it unnecessary.