Fulton County Superior Court Judge John Goger recommended Monday that Atlanta stop trying to pull the Gold Club's liquor license and, according to one newspaper, implied he might order the bid stopped if the city doesn't quit trying.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says Goger heard three hours of testimony Monday between a half dozen Gold Club lawyers and two city attorneys. "There are a number of concerns about this case . . . with respect to manner in which their license has been tried before anyone anywhere made any findings to the substance of the charges," said Goger, "which the paper called an 'obvious reference' to Mayor Bill Campbell's vow to get the club's license lifted."
And Goger also said the city's campaign against the controversial exotic dance club has generated enough publicity to border on contaminating the atmosphere for a fair trial.
Gold Club owner Steven Kaplan and several others were indicted last month on racketeering-related charges stemming from Kaplan's alleged ties to the Gambino organized crime family. Campbell suspended the club's liquor license and has since said he would do what he could to pull the club's liquor license, which could be near-death for the club.
The case generated additional publicity when basketball stars Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley were revealed as regular beneficiaries of Gold Club sex-entertainment largesse in 1997. Another report has since said that two members of the New York Mets baseball team had patronized the club during October's playoff series with the Atlanta Braves, though the two players haven't been named yet.
Goger ordered further information, the Journal says, including a transcript of the License Review Board hearing on Dec. 8, brought to him by Tuesday. He didn't say when or how he would rule, the paper continues, but the board was set to continue its hearing Tuesday night.
The club faces charges including prostitution, credit card fraud, money laundering, police corruption, and paying protection to the Gambino Family. Kaplan and others named in the indictment have denied the charges. Club attorneys had asked Goger to stop the License Review Board hearing on grounds it was trial by ambush, the Journal says.
The mayor has sole authority to pull a license but the board can make recommendations. One Gold Club attorney, Steve Sadow, says business has been cut fifty percent since the license was suspended, with workers "leaving in droves."
"The clock is ticking," he says. "You can't turn the hands back." Another club attorney, Alan Begner, says the business is destroyed already because of the "taint" of the federal indictments."
