Colbert v. Superior Confection Co.
| Decision Date | 03 November 1931 |
| Docket Number | 20438. |
| Parties | COLBERT, Sheriff of Carter County, et al. v. SUPERIOR CONFECTION CO. |
| Court | Oklahoma Supreme Court |
Rehearing Denied Jan. 12, 1932.
Syllabus by the Court.
Under the provisions of section 1941, C. O. S. 1921, any person who sets up, operates, or conducts, or who permits to be set up operated, or conducted in or about his place of business whether as owner, employee, or agent, any slot machine for the purpose of having or allowing the same to be played by others for money, property, checks, credits, or any representative of value, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not less than $25, nor more than $100, or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term of not more than thirty days or by both such fine and imprisonment; and, under those provisions, it is immaterial whether property or checks, for which the machine is played, are of any value, or whether or not the machine is a gambling machine; the intent of the act being to prohibit the playing of the machine, without regard to the value of property or checks received from the playing thereof, and without regard to whether or not the machine is a gambling machine.
A slot machine played with nickels that delivers a package of mints of the reasonable value of five cents when played with nickels, and sometimes delivers, in addition to the mints checks varying from one to twenty in number, which may be used for the further playing of the machine without profit and for the amusement of the player only, is within the provisions of section 1941, C. O. S. 1921.
The officers of the law may not be enjoined by a district court from enforcing the applicable statutes of Oklahoma providing a punishment for violation of the statutes of Oklahoma.
Record examined, and held, the judgment of the trial court is not sustained by any competent evidence.
Appeal from District Court, Carter County; John B. Ogden, Judge.
Action by the Superior Confection Company against Walter Colbert, Sheriff of Carter County, and another. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendants appeal.
Reversed and remanded, with directions.
Petition for rehearing denied. Clark, V. C.J., dissents.
F. M. Dudley, of Oklahoma City, and R. B. Brown, of Ardmore, for plaintiffs in error.
Sigler & Jackson, of Ardmore, for defendant in error.
This is an appeal from a judgment of the district court of Carter county, Okl., in favor or the defendant in error herein, plaintiff therein, against the plaintiffs in error herein, defendants therein. The parties hereinafter will be referred to as plaintiff and defendants.
By the judgment of that court, the defendants, "and those acting under them and each of them are hereby forever enjoined, restrained and debarred from in any manner interfering with said plaintiff, or those with whom said plaintiff may contract in and for the operation of the slot machine or slot machines of similar character and design mentioned in said plaintiff's petition." The trial court further held "that said slot machines, when operated in the manner as reflected by the evidence in this cause, is not and does not constitute a gambling device in violation of or prohibited by the laws of the State of Oklahoma; and that said slot machines in question are not gambling devices within the meaning of the statutes of this State." From that judgment, the defendants appealed to this court.
Section 1941, C. O. S. 1921, provides: "Any person who sets up, operates or conducts, or who permits to be set up, operated or conducted in or about his place of business, whether as owner, employee or agent, any slot machine for the purpose of having or allowing the same to be played by others for money, property, checks, credits or any representative of value shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars, nor more than one hundred dollars; or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term of not more than thirty days, or by both such fine and imprisonment."
The record in this case shows that the plaintiff was about to set up, operate, and conduct, with others on a "fifty-fifty" division of profits, slot machines for the purpose of having and allowing the same to be played by others for property and metal checks, and that the defendants threatened to interfere with the plaintiff in the operation of those machines.
Under the provisions of the statute quoted, it is immaterial whether the checks are of value or not. The act is not limited to property or checks "of value," but includes both property and checks. without regard to the value thereof. It is immaterial whether or not the playing of the slot machines amounts to gambling. The act...
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