Bedbug case against Barona tribe at a crawl
For three years, a couple who stayed at a San Diego County resort have been seeking compensation for what they say was a bug attack. The matter has been tied up in the tribal judicial system.
SAN DIEGO -- — When Gloria and Robert Chisley went to the Barona Resort & Casino in Lakeside in August 2005, they were hoping for a weekend of fun.
Instead, they say, they were attacked by bedbugs while they slept.
They reported the bites the next morning to hotel operators, who called paramedics.
For the three years since, the Chisleys have been seeking compensation from the tribal justice system for the physical and psychological pain that Gloria Chisley says she still suffers.
As Indian casinos and hotels have become a larger part of the recreational landscape, the interplay between the general public and tribal justice has become more frequent and, as in Gloria Chisley's case, contentious.
"Most people don't realize that when you go to an Indian casino, it's like entering a foreign country where you have very few rights," said Chisley's attorney, LaToya S. Redd of Bonita.
The Chisleys have concluded that the system is rigged against them, and cite as evidence that the judge who heard their case was a tribal attorney.
Now they're trying to interest the 4th District Court of Appeal in overseeing the case.
"I don't feel I'll ever be over this," said Gloria Chisley, 59, an assistant administrator with the Fresno school system. "I'm afraid of every bug I see, I don't care how big. I'm not the same person I was."
Redd has tried unsuccessfully to wrest the case away from the tribal system and into state court. But the bid was rejected last year by Superior Court Judge Jan Goldsmith, who said the matter belongs in tribal court.
When Redd discovered that Goldsmith had taken political contributions from nine Indian tribes, including the Barona tribe, she filed a petition to have his decision thrown out on grounds that he should have disqualified himself. The petition was turned down by the California Supreme Court.
Goldsmith has since taken a leave of absence to run for San Diego city attorney. He and incumbent Mike Aguirre are set for a November runoff.
The Barona tribe declined to allow its lawyers to discuss the bedbug case. But the tribe's case is laid out forcefully in courtroom papers.
The tribe disputes Gloria Chisley's contention that she was attacked by bedbugs at its hotel, suggesting instead that her marks were the result of scabies, a condition that would have taken weeks to develop before Chisley showed the marks to hotel employees.
