Harris' New Jersey lawyer wants tapes

      The New Jersey lawyer for convicted slot cheat Ron Harris said Tuesday he may file a motion in Nevada courts seeking the release of six videotaped interviews Harris made with Nevada prosecutors.
      Attorney George Schneider said he was contemplating the move a day after a New Jersey Superior Court judge granted a delay in the start of Harris' trial in connection with a scheme to illegally win a $100,000 keno jackpot at an Atlantic City, N.J., casino.
      "I think any state would require the prosecution to provide statements of a defendant taken by a law enforcement agency," Schneider said of his attempt to gain copies of the 60-to-90 minute videotapes.
      The videos were made in August by the Nevada attorney general's office as part of its investigation of Harris, a longtime computer expert for the Nevada Gaming Control Board who pleaded guilty to four counts of cheating at gaming in Nevada casinos.
      Harris charged on the tapes that Nevada casino jackpots were rigged and state political leaders interceded on behalf of slot machine designers, forcing regulators to accelerate their studies of new casino games. State investigators found no evidence of wrongdoing.
      Representatives of the New Jersey attorney general's office contend they have received just two of the tapes from the staff of Nevada Attorney General Frankie Del Papa despite repeated requests for copies of all six, sources said. Meredith Cote, the New Jersey deputy attorney general who is prosecuting Harris on the Atlantic City charges, refused to comment Tuesday.
      Nevada Assistant Attorney General Brooke Nielsen acknowledged that New Jersey officials have received just two tapes but said the two videos deal with all of the charges Harris raised about New Jersey gaming operations.
      "They've only asked for what we've sent them, and that's what we sent them," Nielsen said. "I am not aware of any additional requests for tapes."
      Schneider argues that Nevada officials are making it difficult for him to gather the information he needs to defend his client. Del Papa's office has refused to release the tapes to the public.
      "I just don't understand why the Nevada attorney general refuses to cooperate with the New Jersey attorney general," he said. "The New Jersey attorney general would certainly want them."
      Superior Court Judge Arthur Guerrera gave Schneider until May 29 to file a motion in Nevada for the tapes' release. New Jersey prosecutors would have 15 days to respond, possibly delaying the start of Harris' trial until mid-June. Nielsen said Del Papa's office would have to review any motion before delivering an opinion.
      Cote will argue in the New Jersey case that Harris and friend Reid McNeal used a computer and Harris' knowledge of gaming equipment payout patterns to win the $100,000 keno jackpot in January 1995 at Bally's Park Place. Schneider will counter by arguing that New Jersey law does not forbid the use of computers in Atlantic City casinos.
      Harris previously pleaded guilty to four counts of cheating in Nevada after he was charged with using his computer and regulatory backgrounds to rig slot jackpots at Fitzgeralds in Reno and Lake Tahoe's Crystal Bay Club, winning an estimated $30,000.
      Harris continues to await sentencing for his Nevada felony convictions, which could bring as much as 10 years in prison for each of the four counts. Nevada prosecutors had delayed seeking a sentencing date until Harris' accomplices Victoria Berliner and Barbara Doane recently pleaded guilty in connection with the slot-rigging scheme. State prosecutors will soon ask a district judge to set a sentencing date, Nielsen said.