No ruling on racino background report

Maine’s highest court on Tuesday did not rule, as many had expected, on whether to release the results of a background investigation into a developer hoping to put slot machines at Bangor Raceway.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is expected to soon render its decision in the case, in which attorneys for Las Vegas-based developer Shawn Scott and his company Capital Seven LLC argued that many of the documents contained private information and should not be made public before a Dec. 15 licensing hearing before the Maine Harness Racing Commission.

The documents, reportedly detailing many of Scott’s past business dealings, are in the possession of the state Department of Agriculture, which oversees the harness racing commission.

Several media outlets, including the Bangor Daily News, requested the papers under Maine’s Freedom of Access Laws that ensure public access to most government documents.

The Agriculture Department agreed to release the records last week. The release was delayed, however, when Capital Seven challenged the decision and later appealed a lower court’s ruling to the state’s highest court, which continues to deliberate.