Salt Lake Tribune | 1904-05-06 | Page 3 | Courts Not to Collect Gambling Debts

COURTS NOT TO COLLECT GAMBLING DEBTS "It Is indeed a very bold undertaking for a gambler, a violator of the law and morality, to seek the aid of a court of justice to enforce his claim founded upon his own nefarious transactions." This is the essence of an opinion, per curiam, handed down in the Supreme court yesterday in the case of R. E. Collet, appellant, vs. Paul Beutler. The action grew out of a poker game, during dur-ing which the defendant borrowed poker pok-er chips from the plaintiff to the alleged amount of $05. The plaintiff brought the action to recover 505, alleged to have been loaned to the defendunt on December 13, 1901, at Richfield. Utah. At the first trl:d of the case it was not brought out that the suit was to recover on a gambling transaction and Judgment was rendered in favor of tho plaintlfT. The defendant was later granted a new trial, at which all the lacts were brought out and the court rendered judgment in favor of the defendant. de-fendant. "No cause of action," and for costs. The plaintiff thereupon prosecuted prose-cuted the present appeal. The opinion of the Supreme court not only upholds the decision of the lower court, but goes further and says that when the nature of the transaction was brought out, the court ''ought to have directed tho enforcement of the criminal crim-inal laws, as to all of the offenders, in addition to the judgment it rendered at tho second trnal. Courts ought not hesitate to protect society from such IndlviduaJe.