Judge Deals Sheriff Out of Indian Gambling : Law: Federal judge rules the sheriff was out of bounds in raids on reservations because of lack of jurisdiction over gambling on Indian lands.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department was out of bounds in raiding three local Indian reservations and seizing their gambling machines because it lacked the jurisdiction to enforce state gambling laws on tribal lands, a federal judge has ruled.

Sheriff Jim Roache said Tuesday that he felt neither frustrated nor “a loser” by the decision. But he expressed concern that the lack of federal scrutiny of Indian gambling creates “a no-man’s land where we have a haven for what potentially could be illicit activities.”

The 30-page opinion, issued Monday by U.S. District Judge Marilyn Huff, was in response to the three tribes’ legal challenge to raids by sheriff’s deputies last October that netted 288 slot-type machines from the Sycuan, Barona and Viejas reservations in eastern San Diego County.

Attorneys for the Indians hailed the decision and said they would now work to win back the seized gambling devices--and sue the county for damages because of lost revenue.

The raids followed a directive from state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren telling local law enforcement agencies to crack down on illegal gambling on reservations, particularly on the proliferation of video slot machines.

Attorneys for the Indian reservations answered with their lawsuit contesting the legality of the raids and the confiscation of machines that were producing more than $100,000 a month in revenue.

“We had jurisdiction,” Roache said Tuesday, “and it was an area of state concern. As a law enforcement agent of the state, I had a responsibility to enforce state law on Indian reservations. Our actions weren’t taken to precipitate a controversy,” Roache said.

“I want some directions from the court, on whether we have jurisdiction. If we don’t, I’ll forget about it. I have plenty of other things to occupy my time,” the San Diego sheriff said.

“If the federal court has indicated it’s not our responsibility, that’s fine. It’s no longer our concern. It’s someone else’s concern,” Roache said. “But part of the problem is, I don’t think the feds are prepared at this juncture to enforce the law.”

Under a longstanding federal law, local law enforcement agencies do have authority to police Indian land. But attorneys for the tribes argued that the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act removed one class of violations--for illegal gambling--to exclusive federal jurisdiction.

Federal prosecutors, however, have been reluctant to authorize politically sensitive raids on the gambling ventures that have become the centerpiece of tribal economies.

U.S. Atty. William Braniff in San Diego said his office is awaiting guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice--which is waiting, in turn, for the National Indian Gaming Commission to more clearly define what types of gambling are legal on reservations.

“The (justice) department doesn’t plan any immediate action until those regulations are finalized,” Braniff said Tuesday.

He said he didn’t fault the Sheriff’s Department for staging the raids.

“The attorney general had the position that the state retains criminal jurisdiction on gambling cases. That is, I believe, a defensible position. The only way you’ll get (the jurisdiction issue) resolved is to take action.”

Huff’s ruling was the third in recent years in which a federal judge has nullified a San Diego County Sheriff’s Department raid on Indian lands, claiming the county had no jurisdiction on reservations.

The state attorney general’s office will decide whether to appeal Huff’s ruling after it studies the decision and consults with Roache, said Cathy Christian, who handles Indian gambling issues for Lungren.

“Our office would be pleased if the feds did step in . . . but it appears from the comments to date that they’re not prepared to do that,” she said.

George Forman, an attorney for the Sycuan reservation, said he was “delighted” by the judge’s ruling--and not concerned by Huff’s recommendation that if local authorities want to pursue investigations of Indian gambling, they first be deputized as federal agents.

“We have no reason to believe there is any basis for a claim that anything that is happening on the Sycuan reservation violates any federal law,” Forman said. “It is the tribe’s intent to follow, in all respects, applicable federal laws. And as far as the tribe is concerned, it hasn’t violated any.”

Forman said his clients now are awaiting Huff’s decision on whether the confiscated machines can be returned to the reservations. If the federal judge rules the machines are legal and should be returned, Forman said the Indians will seek damages from the county to compensate them for the lost gambling income.

Times staff writer Paul Lieberman in Los Angeles contributed to this article.