Friday 31 October 2008, San José, Costa
Rica
Go Ahead Given For
Approval Of
Remaining TLC Bill
Costa Rica Has
More than 900.000 Poor
Chinese President To Boost Costa Rica
Ties In November Visit
Online-Gaming Case
Involving Costa Rica In
Jeopardy
U.S., Costa Rican Police
Raid In $100M Fraud
Investigation
Cats Take To The Catwalk
This Weekend
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Online-Gaming Case
Involving Costa Rica In
Jeopardy
An Arizona judge on
Thursday sent
gambling-ring charges of
more than 30 defendants
facing 130 felony and 80
misdemeanor counts for
placing and collecting
on bets conducted
through Costa Rican
websites, back to the
grand jury because a
county prosecutor failed
to inform the jury of
certain legal facts in
getting the indictments.
Maricopa County Superior
Court judge Roland
Steinle had already
remanded charges against
two defendants in
September because the
prosecutor failed to
mention that the Costa
Rican websites were
possibly protected by
international treaty and
because of the
prosecutor's failure to
answer questions about
the legality of actions
that took place in Costa
Rica.
On Thursday, Steinle
threw out charges
against nine other
defendants. Twenty
defendants remain
charged with multiple
felonies in the case.
Eugene Valentini was one
of the first two
defendants to have his
case remanded because
the prosecutor was
unable to answer
questions as to the
legality of online
gaming in Costa Rica,
where the websites are
located.
"The actions for which
(my client) is accused
are lawful and are
controlled by an
emerging body of
federal, state and
international law which
should have been studied
in detail before
bringing this case
before a grand jury,"
said William Foreman,
Valentini's lawyer.
Foreman's point was
backed up by attorney
Jean-Jacques Cabou, who
represents defendant
James Bennitt.
"In this case, by virtue
of its treaty
obligations, the United
States has agreed to
certain international
conventions that seem to
establish that this is
lawful conduct," Cabou
said, referring to the
Internet gambling.
Bennitt also claimed
that the prosecutor had
made false statements to
the grand jury, painting
Bennitt as a ringleader
instead of a bettor; his
case was remanded in
September.
The County Attorney's
Office portrayed the
remands and the
dismissed counts as
minor obstacles in the
case.
"We can now take those
cases back to the grand
jury if we choose to do
so," said Barnett
Lotstein, a spokesman
for the office.
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