Christopher v. State
| Decision Date | 15 November 1899 |
| Citation | 53 S.W. 852 |
| Parties | CHRISTOPHER v. STATE. |
| Court | Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
Appeal from Bowie county court; R. H. Jones, Judge.
James Christopher, convicted of gaming, appeals. Affirmed.
Chas S. Todd, for appellant. Robt. A. John, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
Appellant was convicted on an information charging him with keeping and exhibiting a gaming device for the purpose of gaming, and his punishment assessed at a fine of $25, and imprisonment in the county jail for 10 days, and he prosecutes this appeal.
Appellant made a motion to quash the information on the ground that it charged no offense, in this: that it does not allege that the alleged bank or device was kept or exhibited for the purpose of gaming. The language of the information in this connection is as follows: That appellant "did then and there unlawfully keep and exhibit a bank and a gaming device for the purpose of gaming," etc. We think it sufficiently alleges that said gaming device was kept and exhibited for the purpose of gaming.
Appellant contends that the gaming device is not one of the games prohibited by the statute, (1) because said slot machine is of recent invention, and was not known when our statutes on the subject were passed, and hence could not have been contemplated by the legislature; (2) that the slot machine is a mere automaton, that keeps and runs itself, and is not the subject of being kept or exhibited for the purpose of gaming by any one.
With regard to the first contention, our statutes on the subject of gaming are very comprehensive. Article 382, Pen. Code, enumerates a number of games, the exhibition of which, for the purpose of gaming, is inhibited by statute. Article 383 is as follows: "It being intended by the foregoing article to include every species of gaming device known by the name of table or bank, of every kind whatever, this provision shall be construed to include any and all games which in common language are said to be played, dealt, kept or exhibited." Article 384, after enumerating certain other games, provides: "But the enumeration of these games specially shall not exclude any other properly within the meaning of the two preceding articles." Article 385 provides that prosecutions can be maintained without giving the name or description of the gaming device in the indictment. Now, the fact that the slot machine, a full description of which is given in the statement of facts, had not been invented when...
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Allen v. Commonwealth
... ... continuing his attempt to secure something for nothing. There ... are statutes in nearly every state inhibiting the use of ... machines and contrivances for gambling, and the statutes ... contain, as a matter of course, many different terms; and ... State, 61 Ark. 308, 32 S.W. 1080; ... Kolshorn v. State, 97 Ga. 343, 23 S.E. 829; ... Lyman v. Kurtz, 166 N.Y. 274, 59 N.E. 903; ... Christopher v. State, 41 Tex. Cr. R. 235, 53 S.W ... 852; Territory v. Jones, 14 N.M. 579, 99 P. 338, 20 ... L.R.A. (N. S.) 239, 20 Ann.Cas. 128; Ferguson v ... ...
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Queen v. State
...table and bank, and it was stated that the device was covered by statutes against the exhibiting of such games. Christopher v. State, 41 Tex. Cr. R. 235, 53 S. W. 852; Donathan v. State, 43 Tex. Cr. R. 427, 66 S. W. 781; and Meeks v. State (Tex. Cr. App.) 74 S. W. 910—are cited in said opin......
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Houghton v. Fox, 3295.
...to prohibit all possible games that fall under the class of gaming tables and banks. Stearnes v. State, 21 Tex. 692; Christopher v. State, 41 Tex. Cr.R. 235, 53 S.W. 852. It is unnecessary to prove that money or anything of value was bet upon the game. Carroll v. State (Tex.Cr.App.) 81 S.W.......
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Meyer v. State
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