Another case tests state liquor laws at Mohegan Tribe casino

Tuesday, April 12, 2011  

The family of a woman who was killed by a drunk casino patron is going after the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut.

In a lawsuit filed in state court, Elizabeth Durante's parents have named Chairman Bruce Bozsum, the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority and other gaming executives as defendants. They say the tribe is partly responsible because driver Daniel Musser, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter and reckless endangerment charges, was drinking at Mohegan Sun before the 2009 incident.

The lawsuit asserts that the state's dram shop laws apply to the tribe. It's a similar issue that tribe faced in another case that was settled for undisclosed terms earlier this year.

"The main issue is whether Indian tribes have any jurisdiction with respect to the dispensing of alcohol on Indian reservations," attorney Robert Reardon Jr. told The New London Day. "It's our position that if you look at U.S. history and the evolution of tribal sovereignty, they never were allowed sovereignty over the dispensing of alcohol.

Since the settlement, the tribe has enacted its own dram shop law that mirror's the state's. It requires claims to be made in tribal court.

Get the Story:
Mohegan Tribe's immunity from state's Dram Shop Act is still an issue (The New London Day 4/12)

Related Stories:
Lawsuit over state liquor laws at Mohegan Tribe's casino settled (1/11)