Attorneys for the state and for Cherokee Nation Entertainment/Businesses LLC squared off Tuesday in the first day of what is anticipated to be a three-day bench trial to decide if Cherokee Nation will be allowed to retain its license to put a casino in Pope County.
Last summer, after years of litigation and two false starts, the Arkansas Racing Commission awarded the last of four casino licenses authorized by Amendment 100, which passed in 2018, to Cherokee Nation Entertainment, only to have it revoked by the passage of Amendment 104 last November.
Plaintiff attorney Bart Calhoun with McDaniel Wolff PLLC in Little Rock, and defense attorney Ryan Hale, a senior assistant attorney general with the office of Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, both declined to make opening statements and instead dived into testimony from the first witness.
