A Cole County judge moved to dismiss a lawsuit by one of the state’s largest purveyors of unregulated slot machines Monday, one day before the closely watched case was set to go to trial.
Cole County Judge Daniel Green said Torch Electronics cannot go forward with its case against the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Through the suit, the Wildwood-based company had sought to insulate itself from future police investigations and prosecutions of its operations.
Future decisions on whether Torch’s operation is legal should be determined in a criminal case, not via a civil lawsuit.
Green credited Scott Pool, an attorney hired to represent taxpayers, for arguing that Torch’s two-year-old lawsuit should be dumped.
