A judge who once served as a Republican representative testified Tuesday that indicted state Sen. Harri Anne Smith initially opposed having an electronic casino in Dothan but changed her position once she became a contender in a congressional election.Former Rep. Benjamin Lewis, now a district judge in Houston County, said he and Smith met with Gov. Bob Riley and Attorney General Troy King in March 2008 in hopes of stopping developer Ronnie Gilley from building an electronic bingo casino in Houston County. On April 3, 2008, they both introduced bills to prohibit electronic bingo in the southeast Alabama county. Smith told him “she would not allow a casino to be built in her district on her watch,” Lewis testified.
But he said Smith announced about two weeks later than she was withdrawing her bill. At the time, she was seeking the Republican nomination for the 2nd Congressional District, he told the jury.
