MISSISSIPPI GAMING COM'N v. Freeman
| Decision Date | 17 June 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 98-CC-00337-SCT.,98-CC-00337-SCT. |
| Parties | MISSISSIPPI GAMING COMMISSION, CDS Service Company, CDS Gaming Company and Casino Data Systems v. Effie FREEMAN. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Office of the Attorney General by R. Stewart Smith, Jr., Attorney for Appellants.
Samuel L. Begley, John F. Hawkins, Jackson, D. Briggs Smith, Jr., Hernando, Attorneys for Appellee.
EN BANC.
SMITH, Justice, for the Court:
¶ 1. Convinced that she had all three of her Cool Millions ducks in a row on the pay line of her slot machine, Appellee Effie Freeman claimed to have won the Cool Millions primary progressive slot machine jackpot at Splash Casino in Tunica County, Mississippi, on April 8, 1995. However, after investigation and an evidentiary hearing before a hearing examiner, the Mississippi Gaming Commission adopted the examiner's findings and conclusions and ruled that Freeman had not won the jackpot. Freeman appealed to the Circuit Court of Tunica County which reversed the Commission's decision because it concluded that the decision was not supported by substantial evidence and because the procedures followed in resolving this casino patron dispute violated Freeman's rights to due process of law. We reverse and render the circuit court's judgment, and we reinstate the Commission's decision.
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
¶ 2. On April 8, 1995, Appellee Effie Freeman went to Splash Casino in Tunica County to gamble and, while at the casino, played a "Cool Millions" slot machine, designated No. 5638 by Splash Casino. "Cool Millions" is a progressive slot system owned and operated by Appellant Casino Data Systems ("CDS") Gaming Company. "Cool Millions" allows slot machines located at various casinos in Mississippi to contribute to, and compete for, a common multimillion dollar jackpot award. Appellant Mississippi Gaming Commission (the "Commission") has licensed CDS and approved of the "Cool Millions" game.
¶ 3. Cool Millions operates through a three reel, three coin dollar slot machine manufactured by Sigma. The game provides a minimum top jackpot award of one million dollars. CDS will pay one million dollars of the jackpot immediately, with the balance paid in the form of an annuity. The primary progressive jackpot is hit when, after the patron inserts three coins and spins three reels, the three designated symbols (the Cool Millions ducks) line up on the pay line.
¶ 4. The facts are in dispute from this point.
¶ 5. At the trial hearing before the Commission, Hearing Examiner Larry Stroud heard Freeman's claim that she placed three coins in the Cool Millions slot machine. Freeman said she had been playing for fifteen minutes, playing three coins the entire time, when three symbols lined up on the pay line in red, white and blue order, and the machine registered a jackpot. According to Freeman, the lights and bells went off, the front of the slot machine showed three coins in, and it showed three coins in the display. Freeman further testified that the "big number" that flashes on top Shortly thereafter, a Splash slot attendant, Ms. Sandra Garner,1 arrived and opened the machine and paid her $5.00 in tokens, which Freeman says were drawn from the hopper of the slot machine and not poured into the payout tray of machine automatically.
¶ 6. Freeman alleged that Garner moved something and removed one of the symbols from the pay line. To bolster her claims, Freeman presented the testimony of witnesses, all four of whom were her friends who had accompanied her to Splash Casino. None of the friends testified as to the number of coins played into the machine, and only one, Jackie Yarbrough, claimed to see three Cool Millions symbols in red, white and blue order and heard the bells ringing. Another, Lisa Curry, arrived at the same time as Garner, and she saw three ducks and the lights on top of the machine flashing.
¶ 7. Freeman also testified that a Splash Casino employee, Edna Erwin,2 told her that she had won the jackpot. However, another of Freeman's friends who was present, Della Miller, testified that Erwin told her that Freeman had not hit the jackpot, but that the slot machine had jammed.
a. Sinks's Testimony
¶ 8. Finally, Freeman presented the expert testimony of John Sinks, an electronics engineer with a B.S. degree in electronics engineering from the University of Maryland as well as a former employee of Harrah's Casino with six months experience in gaming. He testified that, by using a magnifying glass while reviewing the surveillance tape, he could see Garner move the middle reel to remove the Cool Millions symbol from the pay line. According to Sinks, the computer printouts from CDS and Splash Casino were inconsistent and unreliable.
¶ 9. Sinks further stated that he had never witnessed a Cool Millions machine hit a progressive jackpot, but he had witnessed two smaller jackpots on a Cool Millions game. On one of those jackpots one light flashed on top and on the other jackpot both lights flashed. Sinks indicated that Freeman's experience would be consistent with a primary progressive jackpot, because of the bells ringing and the lights flashing and due to the fact that the slot machine had stopped incrementing and scrolling.
¶ 10. In contrast, Commission Agent John Gorman, who investigated Freeman's claim, testified that he obtained and reviewed surveillance tapes of the incident from Splash Casino. Further, he reviewed the written statement of Sandra Garner, the machine's MEAL (machine entry access log) card, and the casino's slot data systems (SDS) computer report showing the activity on Freeman's slot machine at the time in question. Gorman testified that the tapes reveal the slot machine with the top light flashing (a signal that the machine is in tilt mode) and then Garner opening the machine and correcting the tilt.
a. Garner's Written Statement
¶ 11. Garner's written statement that Gorman reviewed read as follows:
/s/ Sandra Garner
The computer printout verified Garner's statement to Gorman-showing that when she opened the door to correct the tilt, only one coin had been played.
¶ 12. Finally, Gorman testified that if the Cool Millions primary progressive jackpot been won, the slot machine would have locked up; that no one at Splash Casino could have reset the jackpot and that only a CDS representative could reset it; that the machine would have sent a signal to CDS that there was a jackpot; and that the two lights on top of the machine would have been illuminated but not flashing. Gorman testified that none of these occurred. Gorman testified that the machine's light was blinking, indicating it was in tilt mode. Gorman also stated that the tape shows Freeman playing the machine with one coin after Garner unclogged the machine. Therefore, Gorman's opinion was that Freeman had not won the primary progressive jackpot.
¶ 13. CDS presented testimony from former Splash Casino employees, JoAnn Jernigan, Surveillance Supervisor, and Bud Flemmons, Co-Slot Manager, as well as CDS employees Gary Mitchell, Multi-Site Progressive Supervisor, and Willie Orr, Technical Supervisor.
¶ 14. Jernigan testified that she was on duty at the time of Freeman's alleged jackpot, and pulled up a close-up view when saw the crowd gather around Freeman. She testified that she knew that the primary progressive jackpot had not been won, because the meter board on top of the machine, # 5638, had not changed to show there was a winner as it should do when a jackpot is hit. Jernigan noted that the light on top of Freeman's machine indicated a hopper jam, not a jackpot.
¶ 15. Jernigan then went down to the casino floor to talk to Garner. Garner told her that the patron, Freeman, had thought she had won, but that she had neither played three coins nor lined up all three symbols, but instead had won the $5.00 award. Despite believing Freeman was satisfied, Jernigan had Garner complete a written report, the one given to Agent Gorman above, and go over it with her. Jernigan testified to being concerned that Freeman's friends might try to influence her into disputing the hopper jam at a later date.
¶ 16. Jernigan then identified the three surveillance tapes she had given Agent Gorman (Ex. 3-5). Exhibit 4 shows Freeman as she begins playing the slot machine. At exactly 5:00 p.m., the alleged winning play occurred, but it is not on video because of a routine tape change.3 Exhibit 5 was the first tape after the 5:00 p.m. tape change on April 8, 1995. Jernigan showed the court that at 17:01 (5:01 p.m.) on the tape the light on Freeman's slot machine was indicating a problem, usually either a coin jam or it needed a hopper fill. Garner approached the machine at 17:03 and after inserting her...
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