1

1 BEFORE THE MISSOURI GAMING COMMISSION

STATE OF MISSOURI

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

7 MONTHLY MEETING

9 Wednesday, October 26, 2005

10 10:00 a.m.

11 3417 Knipp Drive

12 Jefferson City, MO

15 COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Commissioner Floyd Bartch, Chairman

Commissioner Judy Hinrichs

16 Commissioner Ralph Biele (telephone)

Commissioner Darryl Jones

17 Commissioner Noel Shull

20 REPORTED BY: Monnie S. VanZant, CCR, CSR, RPR

Midwest Litigation Services

21 714 W. High Street

Jefferson City, MO 65102

22 (573) 636-7551

1 TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

2 COMMISSIONER BARTCH: If we're all

3 ready, could we call the meeting to order?

4 Call the roll, please.

5 MS. ANGIE FRANKS: Chairman Bartch?

6 COMMISSIONER BARTCH: Present.

7 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Hinrichs?

8 COMMISSIONER HINRICHS: Present.

9 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Biele?

10 COMMISSIONER BIELE: Present.

11 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Jones?

12 COMMISSIONER JONES: Present.

13 MS. FRANKS: Commissioner Shull?

14 COMMISSIONER SHULL: Present.

15 COMMISSIONER BARTCH: I see the first

16 order of business is the chairman's comments.

17 MR. KEVIN MULLALLY: Yes.

18 COMMISSIONER BARTCH: I'll make some

19 comments. A matter has come -- recently --

20 come up recently, which I, as Chairman, think

21 should be disclosed to the public.

22 Our rules prohibit Commissioners from

23 having conversations outside of the Commission

24 meetings with applicants or licensees about

25 issues pending before the Commission.

1 Our rules provide that if such a

2 conversation does occur, it must be disclosed

3 to all Commissioners.

4 As you are aware, Commissioner Judy

5 Hinrichs and Dan Lee of Pinnacle Entertainment

6 had a very brief conversation at the Pinnacle

7 ground-breaking ceremony last month.

8 While the conversation began as a casual

9 one, it did stray into areas covered by ethic

10 rules.

11 Judy reported the conversation to me right

12 away, as she was supposed to do, and I

13 forwarded that information to all the other

14 Commissioners.

15 In addition to the conversation,

16 Commissioners Hinrichs and Jones accepted a

17 very small party gift available to all

18 attendees at the ground-breaking ceremony.

19 After requesting that the staff look into

20 this matter, I have concluded that the

21 conversation was harmless. It is my opinion

22 that no further action by the Commission is

23 necessary.

24 Even though the regulations do not require

25 it, I am choosing to disclose this publicly

1 because we take questions of integrity very

2 seriously.

3 That I am commenting publicly on this

4 innocuous conversation and gifts at all is

5 indicative of this Commission's high regard for

6 the rules that govern our conduct.

7 These are my thoughts on this matter. But

8 I would welcome any comments that any of the

9 other Commissioners would wish to make. Judy?

10 COMMISSIONER HINRICHS: I'd just like

11 to say this was a self-reported, brief

12 conversation which in no way affected my

13 judgment in Commission business, and I'm sorry

14 that it's created the need for the

15 investigation and the time that it's involved.

16 COMMISSIONER BARTCH: Any other

17 comments?

18 COMMISSIONER JONES: Well, I concur

19 with Judy on that in that I don't think it was

20 a necessary investigation. I think it was just

21 something that -- you know, according to

22 our rules and regulations, we had to do it.

23 But it was just something I think

24 that was really just taken out of context and

25 stuff, so --

1 COMMISSIONER SHULL: The only comment

2 that I would like to make is that the nature of

3 the gifts was totally insignificant of those

4 tokens that were distributed to everyone in

5 attendance. And I think that we've done the

6 right thing by disclosing it and that the

7 matter should be finished.

8 COMMISSIONER BIELE: I agree. I

9 think it's a finished issue.

10 COMMISSIONER BARTCH: If there's no

11 other comments, I certainly agree.

12 And, Kevin, let's go to the first item on

13 the agenda. The second item.

14 MR. MULLALLY: All right.

15 Mr. Chairman, we have a number of hearing officer

16 recommendations, the first of which is from

17 Gary Jenkins regarding Dean Nowe. The

18 materials are in Tab A in your packet.

19 COMMISSIONER BARTCH: Good morning,

20 Gary.

21 MR. GARY JENKINS: Dean Nowe -- Dean J.

22 Nowe versus Missouri Gaming Commission, Case

23 No. 03-068-DC.

24 And to begin with, Ms. Rackers brought to

25 my attention on page 2 of my -- on my Amended

1 Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, there

2 is a typo on Line 4.

3 This incident happened on May 11, 2003.

4 And it states that Corporal Logan testified at

5 3:45 a.m. on May 11th, 2005. That should be

6 2003.

7 Now, this case is a case where Mr. Nowe

8 was the highest ranking person at the casino on

9 that evening, and there was a report of

10 assault. And he is being disciplined for

11 failing to report that crime to the on duty

12 gaming agent.

13 And I have a tape here. Mrs. Rackers may

14 want to play it. Mr. Nowe is here, so he's

15 going to have something to say, so she may want

16 to play this tape of an interview from which I

17 had mainly made my decision on this.

18 Basically, what happened is there was a

19 patron in the casino that night named Frank

20 Pace, and he reported to Mr. Bracey that

21 he was a victim of an aggravated assault.

22 We don't know exactly when that happened.

23 It was sometime before 3 a.m., but -- and on

24 that date. But when, I am not sure. Nobody

25 knows exactly when it happened in the evidence

1 that I saw.

2 But at 3:03 a.m., Mr. Nowe entered the

3 interview room to talk with Mr. Pace. And

4 that's what this surveillance tape is. It's a

5 tape of that interview room plan and Mr. Bracey

6 and Mr. Nowe and Mr. Pace. And then a friend

7 of Mr. Pace is talking about this incident.

8 And during that interview, Mr. Nowe told

9 Mr. Pace that if the camera at the casino had

10 recorded the incident, they would help him file

11 a report with the Kansas City Police Department

12 on this supposed aggravated assault and -- but

13 he also told him that if casinos failed to

14 record anything that Mr. Pace would have to

15 call Kansas City Police Department and report

16 that incident on his own.

17 And Mr. Pace told Mr. Nowe that he had

18 already called the Kansas City Police

19 Department. That's why I don't know exactly

20 when this happened. It was sometime before

21 this interview.

22 I think Mr. Nowe had left, called the

23 police department, maybe talked to this

24 Mr. Bracey earlier. The officers came down,

25 according to Mr. Pace, and they said, well,

1 this is -- if you want to file any reports, you

2 have to file them with the Gaming Commission.

3 It's my understanding that the Kansas City

4 Police Department, unless it's an emergency

5 situation, they don't take any action

6 unless they're asked to, maybe by the

7 Gaming Commission or emergency situation or any

8 reports that are taken are taken by Gaming --

9 by the on-duty gaming agent at the casino.

10 And Mr. Nowe replied to the statement that

11 -- that the police department -- the officers

12 that responded said that he would have to file

13 a report with the Gaming Commission. Well,

14 let's see if there's any surveillance tapes to

15 show anything prior to talking to Commission

16 agents.

17 If nothing's on the tape, then if he still

18 wants to talk to the Gaming Commission, he can

19 get the Gaming Commission involved and Mr.

20 Pace can then file a report.

21 So there's -- somebody was looking at

22 these tapes at that time. And then Mr. Nowe

23 told Mr. Pace that the surveillance tape didn't

24 really contain much of a picture, just some

25 movements, and they couldn't really see just

1 exactly what happened.

2 Then Mr. Pace and his friend, I believe he

3 was back by then, had left the room and came

4 back. And he was allowed to leave with no

5 further contact than the on-duty Commission

6 agent.

7 Mr. Nowe said he thought Mr. Bracey had

8 told the on-duty agent about it. He said he

9 thought maybe Mr. -- Corporal Logan was

10 actually watching the interview during this

11 time and he didn't know.

12 And he let Mr. Pace leave the casino

13 grounds without making sure that Corporal

14 Logan, the on-duty Commission agent, had ever

15 been notified.

16 And so Corporal Logan testified that it

17 was really important for him to be notified

18 about this so he can interview this person

19 before he left the casino grounds to find out,

20 you know, from a law enforcement standpoint

21 exactly what happened.

22 So based on what I saw on this tape

23 and the evidence, the testimony that -- I

24 agree with the recommendation that Mr. Nowe's

25 Level I occupational license be suspended

1 for a period of 30 days.

2 COMMISSIONER BARTCH: Would the

3 Commission like to view the tape?

4 COMMISSIONER HINRICHS: We should

5 hear from Mr. Nowe first.

6 COMMISSIONER BARTCH: Before we

7 review the tape, is Mr. Nowe in the audience?

8 MR. DEAN NOWE: I am.

9 COMMISSIONER BARTCH: Would you like

10 to come up, sir?

11 MR. NOWE: How are you doing this

12 morning?

13 I'm not here to retry the case, by all

14 means. What I am here this morning for is to

15 ask the Board for leniency on the proposed

16 30-day suspension on my Level I gaming license.

17 I ask that the Commission take into

18 consideration the following prior to making the

19 final determination of disciplinary action:

20 I ask that the Board look at my overall

21 history, a solid history, of integrity at both

22 the casino properties and Missouri Gaming

23 Commission for 12 years since the inception of

24 gaming in the state of Missouri.

25 With this incident occurring approximately

1 two and a half years ago, I have since

2 continued to make every effort to better

3 communicate with the Commission, thus resulting

4 in an effective current team working

5 relationship with all of them. If asked, I

6 truly believe that I would have their

7 support.

8 Although I am confident and very qualified

9 to perform my daily tasks within the industry,

10 I am human and have made my mistakes. I'm here

11 this morning to let you know that I have

12 learned from those mistakes, and I'm just

13 wanting to move forward.

14 Again, I ask for your leniency in taking

15 my thoughts into consideration prior to

16 determining the final order of discipline.

17 COMMISSIONER BARTCH: Mr. Nowe, do

18 you understand that you had the

19 responsibility to get ahold of the gaming

20 agent?

21 MR. NOWE: Yes, sir.

22 COMMISSIONER BARTCH: And you

23 understand that completely now and --

24 MR. NOWE: Yes, sir.

25 COMMISSIONER BARTCH: And you would

1 do it differently in the future is what you're

2 saying?

3 MR. NOWE: Yes, sir.

4 COMMISSIONER BARTCH: Okay. Are there

5 any other questions of Mr. Nowe? Is there

6 anyone else that wishes to speak on this

7 matter?

8 MS. JANE RACKERS: Yes.

9 COMMISSIONER BARTCH: Thank you, sir.

10 MR. NOWE: You're welcome.

11 MS. RACKERS: Thank you, Mr.

12 Chairman. I'll be brief. I just want to

13 emphasize that the event that was not reported

14 in this instance was an alleged assault with a

15 knife.

16 And because it was not reported to the

17 gaming agent, it could not be investigated