A state judge who previously dismissed a defamation case that has revealed secret moves to legalize casinos in North Carolina rejected an effort to remove him from the case, and said he would report the attorneys involved to the NC State Bar for disciplinary proceedings.
In a hearing Friday afternoon, Special Superior Court Judge Hoyt Tessener denied any bias in the case involving a hotly contested Rockingham County commissioner race, and said he found no legitimate claim that candidate Craig Travis had been defamed.
He sided with the defendants’ attorneys who said in court that they viewed Travis’ lawsuit as a frivolous attempt to revisit the state legislature’s failed effort in 2023 to land three casinos in Rockingham, Anson and Nash counties.
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