Lee Russo's Fight For Online Poker Delayed Til May 15th

The new court date for the Washington State Online Gamblin and Poker is now May 15th.  Lee Russo is the former gubernatorial candidate and Poker Players Alliance (PPA) regional director for the state of Washington. 

He has stated in his most recent update that he received a very favorable ruling towards his case that is challenging the criminalization of online poker and online gambling in the state of Washington.

This has cleared the way for his case to be heard in court on May 15th.  Russo's case challenges the constitutionality of a 2006 Washington law that made online poker and gambling a Class C felony.  He first filed his lawsuit on the first day of the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event.

At first state legal representatives delayed the hearing for months by asking for Russo's personal online poker information to be a part of their discovery process.  Russo then followed with an appeal, saying that the requests "were propounded to harass, oppress, intimidate and threaten" him.

After his appeal was initially defeated, many of this Fifth Amendment right to protect his personal and confidential information were upheld on appeal by Judge Mary E. Roberts in April.  He was ordered however to reply to certain requests as part of the decision

"Judge Roberts issued her ruling on my discovery dispute with the state. The judge agreed with me about 99%, the state about 1%. In layman's terms, it was a rout."  He added, "There is just one item left to fight over. Otherwise, it looks extremely likely that I will get my day in court."

Now due to a change in the courts schedule, Russo's hearing date was moved back to May 15th.  Russo is asking all local poker player to come to court to show their support for online poker.