Free Response to Motion - District Court of California - California

Case 3:07-cv-02226-DMS-AJB

Document 10-2

Filed 12/21/2007

Page 1 of 6

, | ^ z , . 4 5 6 7 8 9 l0
1I 12 l3 14 1. l)

Chad Austin. Esq. SBN235457 3 1 2 9 d i a tre e t In S S a nD i e g oC A 9 2 1 0 3 -6 0 14 . T e l e p h o n(6:1 9 ) 9 7 -8 8 8 8 e 2 Facsimile: (619)295-1401 Attorney Plaintiff, for JAMESM. KINDER,anindividual

UNITED STATESDISTRICTCoURT SoUTHERNDISTRICToF CALIFoRNIA

J A M E SM . K I N D E R , plaintiff,

)

Case No. 07 CV 2226DMS (AJB) .ludge: Hon. DanaM. Sabraw Magistrate: Ilon. AnthonyJ. Battaglia DECLARATION OF CHAD AUSTIN IN SUPPORTOF PLAINTIFF'S OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS Date: January 7,2008 Timc: l 0 : 3 0a . r n . Couftroom: 13

v' HARRAH'S EN'I'ER'I'AINMBNT, and Inc. D O E S I r h r o u g h 0 0 .i n c l u s i v c . 1 Defendants.

t6
1 1 ] T

l8
lq

I, CHAD AUSTIN, declare follows: as 1. I am an attomeyat law duly licensed and admitted practice to beforeall courtsof

20 2l 22 23 24 ?s 26 ilt 27 2g C A S E O .0 7 C V 2 2 2 6 M S( A J B ) N D the Stateof Califomia,the United States District Court,Southern District of Califomiaand the Ninth Circuit Court of Appealsand have beenattorneyof recordfor Plaintiffin this mattersince its inception. If calledas a witness,I could and would competentlytestify to all factswithin my personalknowledgeexceptwhere statedon informationand belief.

Case 3:07-cv-02226-DMS-AJB

Document 10-2

Filed 12/21/2007

Page 2 of 6

1 2 3 4 5

2.

I am fully familiar with all of the factsand circumstances surroundingthis

case. fhis declaration submitted supportof Plaintiff s Opposition Defendant's is in to Motion to Dismiss. The matters stated this declaration true,of my own personal in are knowledge.

3. 6 , 8 9 l0 11 l2 l3 14
l <

Plaintiff hasin his possession I havepersonally and listened the taperecordings to

of eachand everycall (7 in total)madeby Defendant Plaintiff s numberassigned a paging to to service619-999-9999, SanDiego,Califbrnianumber. a

4.

One (l) of the unlawfulprcrecorded tclcmarkcting callscomplained in this of

action,which was madeon Deccmber 2003 at l0:19 a.m..was what clearlyappeared be a 9. to 'l'he prerecorded lelemarkcting call. prcrccorded mcssagc slatcdthat it was madeon behall'of "Harrah'sRinconCasino,"locatedin Valley Center, SanDiego County,California. My investigation revealed has that the Harrah'sRinconCasinois ownedby the Rinconbandof Mission Indiansand operated one or more of several by Ilarrah'sentities, includingbut not necessarily limitedto defbndant IIARRAFI'S ENTIIRTAINMIINT.Inc.(a Dclaware corporation), HARRAH'S OPBRA'I'INGCOMPANY. Inc. (a Dclawarecorporation), HARRAH'S MARKETING SERVICESCORPORATION(a Nevadacorporation) and HARRAH'S LICENSE COMPANY, LLC (a Nevadalimited liability company).However, discovery will ultimatelybe requiredin orderto determine exactlywhich Harrah'sentity operates

'J

l6 17 18 lg 20
1 L1I

22

.^ z+ 25

the Harrah'sRinconCasino. A true and correctverbatimtranscript the December of 9,2003 at. l0:19 a.m.call is attached hereto ExhibitB. as

26 ur
2 2g 7 ) CASE 07CV 2226 M S AJ B) NO. D (

Case 3:07-cv-02226-DMS-AJB

Document 10-2

Filed 12/21/2007

Page 3 of 6

1 2 3 4 5 6 , 8 9 l0 11

5 -'

One (1) of the unlawful prerecorded telemarketing callscomplained in this of

action,which was madeon February15.2007 aI253 p.m., includedwhat clearly appeared be to a man's prerecorded voice. The prerecorded voice message promoted Harrah'sLas Vegas the Casino. The gentleman saidin the prerecorded message he was "Scott with Harrah's that Entertainment." A true and correctverbatimtranscript that prerecorded of message atlached is heretoas Exhibit C.

6.

On December11,2007.1accessed websitefor the North Countytimesand the

found an articleentitled"Gamblinggrowth could leadto unfriendlycompetition," true and a correctcopy o1'whichis attached heretoas Exhibit D, which stated, inter uliu. "Rincon, which haspartnered with Las Vegasgiant Harrah's Entertainment,hassaidthat its casinowith 1,600 slot machines can'l compete with its neighbors without more slots."

t2
l3 14 15 16

7.

t7
l6

On December 2007,1accessed Hanah'swebsite.Specifically, 3, the under

"CORPORATE: INVESTORRELATIONS- PROPERTY STATS" I found fhttp://investor.harrahs.com/fphoenix.zhtml?c:84772&p:irol-PropertyStats], a listingof properties variousstatistics and relatedthereto.At the top of the tableread"HARRAH'S ENTERTAINMENT ) INVESTOR RELATIONS ) PROPERTY STATS." fbold and underlining "HARRAH'S ENTERTAINMENT" addedfor emphasisl.The subheading of read

lg 20 )1 22 23

to 1A "STATISTICAL DATA AS OF JUNE 30,2007." One of the entriesin that tablerelated .,+ 25
.Z

"Rincon," referringto Harrah'sRinconCasino. Accordingto the table,Harrah'sRinconCasino

z o h a s6 l ta b l e g a mels,p o ke rtables, 2 l,600slotm achines,69,949 efeetofc as i no,552hotel squar 2
2g

7

3
C A S EN O . 0 7 C V 2 2 2 6D M S ( A J B )

Case 3:07-cv-02226-DMS-AJB

Document 10-2

Filed 12/21/2007

Page 4 of 6

r l 2
a

rooms(non-suite), hotel suites,653 l0l total rooms/suites 7,648convention and centersquare feet. A true and correctcopy of the websiteprintout is attached heretoas Exhibit E.

4 5 6 t 8 7 t0 11 t) ,; l4
l < 'J

8.

On or aboutDecember 11.2007,1 accessed. the internet. documcnt true via the a

and correctcopy of which is attached heretoas Exhibit F. The document. entitled"Capturing the Benefitsof CasinoGaming:An EconomicDevelopment Initiativefbr RhodeIslandSubmitted by Harrah's Entertainment,Inc. to the RhodeIslandSpecial HouseCommission Study to Gaming.March 74,2003" fhttp://www.rilin.state.ri.us/gen assembly/gaming/whiteversion.doc] was accessed me on the Stateof RhodeIslandGeneral by Assembly's website. lrttp://ivr.ru.rilin.statc.ri.us/gen_asscntbl),/. In thatdocument appearcd lbllowinglanguage: the "ln December 2002,Harrah'sEntertainment, Inc. ("Harrah's"), thc owner/operator 26 of 'l'ribe..." casinos 13 states, in announced partnership a with I{hodeIsland'sNarragansett (Page1, third full paragraph). Page10 of that document, the third paragraph, the following On in was "Harrah's has witnessedit on tribal lands with the Ak Chin Indianreservation language: outsideof Phoenix, Cherokec the reservation North Carolina.lhePrairie[]and of Pottawatomi in Indians Kansas in and the Rincon band of MissionIndiansoutsideof San Diego. And, the samecan be said for Harrah's other properties in Missouri,Louisiana, Atlantic City, New Jersey. Nevada,and lowa." [Bold and italicsaddedfor emphasis.]

16

t7
ItJ lg 20 )1 22

24 25
)A zo

9.

On December 20, 2007,1 accessed websitefor llarrah's RinconCasinoin the

Valley Center,SanDiego County,California. [http://www.harahs.com/casinos/harahs-rinconsan-diego/hotel-casino/property-home.shtml]the window in the top, centerof the page In 7 4 C A S E O . 0 7C V 2 2 2 6 M S( A J B ) N D

2 2g

Case 3:07-cv-02226-DMS-AJB

Document 10-2

Filed 12/21/2007

Page 5 of 6

, l
2
a

immediately "Harrah's Entertainment LoadingContent." Thewindowthensaid read @ "Las VegasAction, San Diego Style!"

4 5 o 7 8 9 10 11 i l^ l 13 14 l5 16

10.

It is absolutely untruethat Plaintiff filed a "Declaration .lames Kinder in of M.

Supportof Filing By Vexatious Litigantin" in JumesM. Kinder v. Sprint P()SAs,sets, LLC, et ol., United States DistrictCourt,Southern District of California, CaseNo.07CV2049 WQH JMA. No suchdeclaration was filed in that case.

I l.

It is true that,in somepreviousTCPA matters, filed Declarations my clientto I by

supportthe initial complaintfiled therewith. That is because clerk's office at the SanDiego the Superior Court ("civil business oflice") erroneously required samebefbrethey would accept a new filing. After jumping throughthe unnecessary hoop severaltimes, as in ,James Kinder v. M. AilieclInterstale.san DiegoSuperior CourtCase No. GIC 850543. which filing was approved by thenPresiding Judge JanisSammartino February on 26,2007.thecivil business longer no

17 ltt lg 20
)1

requiredmy clientto submita declaration be approved the Presiding to by Judge. At somepoint on a dateI cannotrecall,a clerk with the court stated that the Court'sin-house legaldeparlment had advisedthem that as long as my client filed throughcounsel.no approvalfiom the Presiding

Judge necessary. was Since then. such no approval been has required thecourtin anynew by filing by Mr. Kinder, whether action the wasfor violations theTCPAor not. of

22

24 25 12. Thefactthatno courtapproval should haveeverbeen required whenmy client

26 filed through counsel ratifiedby thenPresiding was Judge Sammartino June28,2007 ln on , 2 2g 7 s (AJB) CASE 07CV 2226 NO. DMS

Case 3:07-cv-02226-DMS-AJB

Document 10-2

Filed 12/21/2007

Page 6 of 6

I
z
a J

JamesM. Kinder v. Adecco, Inc., SanDiego Superior Court CaseNo. G1C8S2000, Adeccofiled a Notice of Vexatious Litigant,affectingan automatic stayof that litigation. I timely filed an opposition and JudgeSammartino lifted the stay,holdingthat the pre-filingorderand CCP { 391.7did not applybecause Kinder had flled that actionthroughcounseland not In Propria Mr. Persona. A true and correctcopy of JudgeSammartino's Orderis attached heretoas Exhibit A.

4 5 6 l 8 9 l0 11

I declare underpenaltyof perjuryunderthe laws of the Stateo1-Califbrnia the laws of and the United States that the foregoingis true and correctandthat this declaration was executed by me on I)ecember 21.2007in SanDieco.California.

t2
21. 1 3 DATED:December 2007 14 15 16 17 l8 t9 20 2l 22
ZJ

By: /s/ ChadAuslin ClllAD ALJS'l'lN, Irsq., Attorneylbr Plaintiff. JAMES M. KINDER Iirnail: chadaustin@)cox.nct

24 25 26 27 28
CASE NO. 07 CV 2226DMS(AJB)