Show playing for money is felony even in homes in an opinion handed down bat arday afternoon the supreme court of utah holds eliat is a felony to eliy carry on or conduct a card gime for money credit or other representative or thine of value in in any house street alley or other place public or private under this ruling playing cards for money in ones private home is a felony under the laws of utah tin opinion was handed down in the use of the state of butali against tom poulia proprietor of a coffee house who was convicted in the letter court of conducting a gambling house for the playing of card in his place for money he appealed and now the supreme court affirms the judgement jud gement of the lower court the opinion was written by justice J E anck and concurred in by justice W N mccarty chief justice D N str aup dissents on the ground that the evidence was not sufficient to convict poulia under the felony clause of the statute though he be guilty under the misdemeanor section the gist of the opinion is given in the following excerpt all that is necessary for the state to prove aside from the jurisdictional fictional al and technical matters under an information like the one set forth above is that the accused either as owner or as the employee of another whether for his hire or not has earned on or conducted any game played with cards which game was played for money credit or for some other representative or thing of value it is not necessary therefore to prove that the accused is conducting or has conducted a gambling house or eliat he is habit billy engaged in gambling but it is enough if the things we have before enumerated are proved beyond a reasonable doubt moreover the offense is complete if the gime is placed carried on or conducted in any house street or alley or other place public or private and it is that it be played only once or for any indefinite length of time if played for money credit or other representative or thing of value the penalty prescribed for the offense of whish was convicted is PI months in the penitentiary deseret news |