Colusa tribe asks delay in federal case

The tribe asked a judge to postpone a decision regarding a casino in Yuba County.

US.- George Forman, an attorney for the Colusa Casino tribe in Yuba County, California, filed a status report asking a judge from the U.S. District Court in Sacramento to delay any further action in the casino case until the state Supreme Court solves a conflict between lower court decisions.

Back in 2015, the Judge Troy Nunley said that the Interior Department and the Bureau of Indian Affairs was right in taking 40 acres into trust along Forty Mile Road for the Enterprise tribe. According to Appeal Democrat, a month later the Colusa tribe asked the judge to reconsider his stance. Both tribes have been waiting for more than a year to get a response from the judge about Colusa’s request. In the past few months two appeals courts issued different decisions in cases what influencenced the land intro trust.

The lawyer said that “the two appellate court cases have the potential to fundamentally alter the legal foundation of the federal government’s decision to accept the Yuba County parcel into trust for gaming.” According to Forman, the cases militate in favor of deferring action on Colusa’s motion. “However and whenever this court may rule on Colusa’s pending motion for reconsideration, this court’s final judgment almost certainly will be appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals,” he added.