Steve Wynn cases reach Nevada Supreme Court

Two cases involving new Desert Inn owner Steve Wynn will highlight oral arguments next week before the Nevada Supreme Court.

The court on Thursday will hear a book publishing company's appeal of a $3.2 million libel judgment awarded Wynn in 1997.

Jurors found that Lyle Stuart, co-owner of Barricade Publications, had libeled Wynn in comments, included in a catalog sent out to 5,000 book reviewers about ''Running Scared: The Life and Treacherous Times of Las Vegas Casino King Steve Wynn.''

In legal briefs, Stuart's lawyers said the judgment exceeds the net worth of his company.

The book about Wynn's life was written by John L. Smith, a columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Smith was dropped from the case, but Wynn is trying to get him reinstated.

The court on Wednesday will hear former New York dock worker Joseph Canterino's appeal of Clark County District Judge Stephen Huffaker's decision to drop a $5.8 million judgment he won from The Mirage.

Canterino said he was robbed of $70,000 and beaten by two men at The Mirage in 1992. The hotel, recently acquired by MGM Grand Inc., then was run by Wynn.

In seeking the $5.8 million as directed by jurors, Canterino lawyer Marty Keach said Huffaker failed to disclose that his son received an $11,000 college scholarship from Wynn's company.

In his legal brief, Keach said the ''realities of life in this state'' include knowing that ''it is run and controlled by gaming interests, and the most powerful of all these interests is none other than the man in charge of The Mirage (then Wynn).''

In her response, Mirage lawyer Kristina Pickering questioned whether Canterino really was robbed and called him the son of former Genovese crime boss Dominic ''Baldy Dom'' Canterino.

In addition, the justices on Wednesday will listen to arguments by the Las Vegas Downtown Redevelopment Agency, which wants to stop Clark County District Judge Mark Denton from dropping out of a case before his court.

Denton pulled out of the case, in which the family of Harry Pappas challenged the right of the Redevelopment Agency to use eminent domain laws in 1994 to take their property. The property now is part of a parking garage for the Fremont Street Experience.

Pappas had complained about Denton hearing the case because the judge received $2,800 in political contributions from four downtown casinos. Denton withdrew last year.

But the Redevelopment Agency pointed out in its briefs that Denton is the fifth judge to pull out of the case. Its lawyers accused Pappas of shopping for a judge who will be favorable to his family's case.