Red Hawk Casino opened almost a year ago. The Shingle Springs Band of Miwok, which owns the casino, is fighting off a lawsuit from Sharp Image, a partner in a former casino.

The $107 million civil suit brought by Sharp Image Gaming Inc. against the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok in 2007 survived another attempt by the tribe’s attorneys to have the case dismissed.

El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Patrick Riley has ruled that the Shingle Springs band waived its sovereign immunity when the tribe entered into contracts and a loan with Sharp Image to provide slot machines for the tribe’s casino.

Red Hawk Casino is on the Shingle Springs Rancheria.

Sharp Image is a Chatsworth video gaming machine manufacturer. It bankrolled the Shingle Springs tribe’s first brief — and failed — foray into casino operation in 1996 and 1997.