LEGAL MARATHON

14 November 2008

BetonSports founder must be planning a major action

 

Gary Kaplan, the founder of liquidated online gambling group BetonSports has been in jail for the past 18 months on a slew of allegations related to his gambling business activities, and is clearly planning a serious defence action judging by reports in the St. Louis Despatch newspaper.

Kaplan and the former CEO of the betting group, David Carruthers, have yet to have their day in court following US Department of Justice investigations that resulted in their detentions.

In Kaplan's case, there has been an additional furore over whether he received special and covert treatment in the way of contraband articles smuggled to him in the St. Louis County jail. That led to his transfer to another detention facility in St. Charles county, but controversy has followed him there too, according to the newspaper.

The problem is that the St.Charles County jail has only two interview rooms where detainees can meet with their legal representatives....and Kaplan and his lawyers are monopolising them with long daily consultations (the legal bill must be interesting!)

This has ticked off other lawyers wishing to spend time with their imprisoned clients. Tracy Brown, one of six public defenders in the St. Charles County office told the newspaper that she and her colleagues represent about 120 defendants housed in the St. Charles County Jail. "His [Kaplan's] rights shouldn't be any more important than my clients' rights," she said, claiming that Kaplan's attorneys are there most of the day and sometimes into the evening.

"Inevitably, the less I see my clients, the less chance I'm going to have to make a good connection with them," Brown said. "It's hard for them to trust me when they hardly see me."

Kaplan's lawyers are apparently unabashed by the complaints. Freeman Bosley Jr., said that it was necessary for Kaplan to have contact with his attorneys daily.

"If the amount of working hours in the interview room are limited or reduced, it will greatly diminish the amount of work that we accomplish in preparation for Mr. Kaplan's upcoming trial," Bosley wrote. "In a normal 9-5 business day, with all of the mandated breaks, we often work less than 2.5 hours as it is."