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Handa-Lopez Lawyer Won't Tip Hand

Cohen, of course, is the 33-year-old former San Francisco stockbroker who co-founded Antiguan online sports book World Sports Exchange (WSEX).

When he was arrested two years ago for running an online gambling operation, his attorney, Ben Brafman, wasted no time in publicly announcing the defense strategy that would be used to prove his client's innocence in a court of law.

Four months ago, in the first trial in U.S. history for online gambling, Cohen was convicted of all charges.

The attorney for another California man, indicted last week in an unrelated case of allegedly running an online gambling operation, is being a little more tight-lipped about what her client's defense will be.

She isn't saying anything.

Nanci Clarence is the high-powered First Amendment attorney from San Francisco who is representing the indicted man -- David R. Brown.

Brown, 45, of Gilroy, California, and his partner, Raymond L. Clark, 46, of British Columbia, Canada, were indicted June 14 by a Federal grand jury in U.S. District Court in San Jose on charges of conspiracy and conducting an illegal gambling business.

Brown was also indicted for tax evasion.

Authorities say the men, executives of Handa-Lopez, Inc., a Sunnyvale, California software company, operated a group of highly-profitable online casinos from 1996 to 1999 that were based in Sunnyvale, and that Brown neglected to pay income tax in 1997 on monies earned from the casinos.

In a telephone interview yesterday with RGT Online, Clarence was polite but tight-lipped when it came to talking about Brown's case.

Asked her reaction to Brown's indictment, Clarence replied: "I can certainly tell you that Mr. Brown never intended to run afoul of the law in establishing his business enterprise and that he looks forward to putting this matter behind him."

But when asked specifically what Brown's defense will be against the gambling charges, Clarence declined to say.

"I'm not in a position to talk to you about that," she said.

The indictment spells out what Brown and Clark are accused of.

According to the indictment, "Upon logging onto a Handa-Lopez Web site and paying a fee, a player was directed to Funscape.com, a portal which hyperlinked to other sites: Cowboy Stud Poker (www.cowboystudpoker.com), Casino Royale (www.funscape.com/home.htm), High Stakes (www.highstakes.com) and Casino Utopia (www.Casinoutopia.com). These sites permitted the playing of, among other games, blackjack, keno, roulette, lotto, poker, and slot machines."

The indictment continues: "Handa-Lopez and its principals represented to the public that they hosted Internet gambling Web sites in offshore locations. In fact, Handa-Lopez hosted the sites from within the United States as its server was physically located at its office in Sunnyvale, California. . . .

"From July, 1996 through May, 1999 the credit card service company that managed the Handa-Lopez merchant credit card account processed in excess of $6.2 million dollars of credit card transactions for Handa-Lopez."

The indictment also alleges that Brown failed to pay nearly $103,000 in income taxes on income earned from the online casinos.

The indictment comes on the heels of a raid last year of the Handa-Lopez offices outside San Jose by a coalition of law enforcement authorities, including Federal agents and local Sunnyvale police.

In that raid, Handa-Lopez records, software, computers and other items were seized as evidence.

Brown's use of a noted First Amendment attorney to defend him suggests he may view his operation of online casinos as a First Amendment issue.

Civil libertarians, such as those affiliated with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), view the Internet as a form of speech and oppose any government prohibition against online gambling (as long as the gambling isn't fraudulent).

Nanci Clarence has won several high-profile First Amendment cases in Northern California in recent years.

Last year, she represented a transsexual who sued local deputy sheriffs after they strip-searched the transsexual to determine the transsexual's gender. The transsexual was awarded $755,000.

In 1998, Clarence represented a group of strippers who sued the strip club that employed them. The strippers were awarded $2.85 million.

No court dates have been set yet for Brown or Clark.

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