Trainer v. State

• Decision Date: 06 April 2006
• Docket Number: No. 2004-CA-01955-SCT.,2004-CA-01955-SCT.
• Citation: 930 So.2d 373
• Parties: Timmy TRAINER, Angela Trainer, SD Amusements of Mississippi, Inc. and Mississippi Amusement Operators' Association v. STATE of Mississippi.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 373

930 So.2d 373

Timmy TRAINER, Angela Trainer, SD Amusements of Mississippi, Inc. and Mississippi Amusement Operators' Association v. STATE of Mississippi.

No. 2004-CA-01955-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

April 6, 2006.

John H. Cox, III, Greenville, attorney for appellants.

Office of the Attorney General by Billy Berryhill, Thomas Henry Mueller, Meredith M. Aldridge.

Before WALLER, P.J., CARLSON and RANDOLPH, JJ.

CARLSON, Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. This civil action against the State of Mississippi, which challenges the constitutionality of certain criminal statutes, arises from the arrest of one of the appellants,¹ Timmy Trainer, who was charged with possession of illegal gambling machines. The machines in question were seized from Trainer's place of business and partially disassembled. Money was also removed from the machines and seized. Trainer relied on profit from the machines for part of his livelihood. Trainer claims the machines were not illegal gambling machines. He brought this suit to challenge the constitutionality of the criminal statutes under which he was arrested and under which the machines and money were seized. Trainer maintains the statutes are vague and ambiguous. Trainer also claims violations of his property rights and his right to due process of law, as he was provided no hearing. The trial court granted the State of Mississippi's motion to dismiss, finding the machines were illegal gambling devices, and that Trainer thus had no property rights in contraband; and, that Trainer had failed to meet his burden of showing that the law was unconstitutional.

¶ 2. Trainer appealed to this Court. We affirm the trial court's judgment which specifically allowed seizure of these machines under Miss.Code Ann. §§ 97-33-7 and -17, as we do not find these statutes to be unconstitutional.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS IN THE TRIAL COURT

¶ 3. Shortly after Timmy Trainer's purchase of Mac's Grocery² in Greenville, a law enforcement search of Trainer's store was conducted pursuant to a warrant, in June, 2002. As a result of the execution of this warrant, law enforcement officials seized four video game machines and the money inside the machines. Trainer had been operating the store for only a few weeks when the Washington County Sheriff's Department conducted the search. The warrant described "four video poker machines," which Trainer testified were not the types of machines seized. In fact, Trainer did not actually own any "video poker" machines. The seized video games, from which Trainer earns some of his livelihood, have a display similar to those on slot machines, and are known as "Cherry Masters" or "Eight Liners." Trainer was arrested for possessing illegal gambling devices. When this civil action came before the circuit court, the criminal matter was still pending in county court, and a stay of the criminal case had been issued by the county court judge. The officers from the sheriff's department removed from the machines on site the mother boards, or "brain boards," which are circuit boards similar to a computer's CPU.

¶ 4. At the hearing on the State's motion to dismiss, Trainer presented three witnesses, Phillip Lee, Brian Walters, and Ronnie Moore, who had experiences similar to Trainer. Lee, Walters, and Moore all owned bars and clubs which had these game machines which police confiscated and/or destroyed; and, they were not afforded a hearing or a criminal trial. Lee, Walters, Moore, and Trainer do not know where their game machines are being kept or what condition those machines are in. Testimony at the hearing revealed that these arcade-like machines which are common to all four individuals, project electronic displays onto glass screens similar to those on personal computers. The displays themselves resemble spinning reels like those on a traditional slot machine. The player begins the game by inserting money, which generates a certain number of credits, depending on how much money is inserted. The game is played by stopping the spinning reels by pressing buttons, or skill stops, on the front of these video game machines. The object is to line up common symbols on the display to accumulate more credits, which in turn will allow more playing time. Thus, the player "buys" credits by initially inserting money and then attempts to "win" more credits through game play. The machines, which accept both coins and bills, do not give change or return unused credits. Instead, any unused credits become a windfall to the next player. The machines also lack what are commonly called knock-off buttons, a device common to actual slot machines in casinos which reset the game credits to zero, thus allowing the player to be reimbursed for any unused credits. However, concerning the machines which are the subject of today's appeal, if the player has increased the number of credits, the "winnings" cannot be redeemed for value.

¶ 5. Trainer filed his complaint for declaratory judgment/relief challenging the constitutionality of the statutory provisions under which he was arrested, naming Washington County as the defendant. In the original complaint Trainer also claimed violations of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, namely that he was deprived of due process of law and property, and that he was denied equal protection of the laws. The state Attorney General intervened on behalf of Washington County under Miss. R. Civ. P. 24(d), and filed a motion to dismiss. Before Trainer filed his response to the motion to dismiss, he filed a motion to amend his complaint for declaratory judgment, requesting that Washington County be deleted as the defendant, and that the State of Mississippi be substituted therefor, since he was challenging the constitutionality of a state statute. Trainer also requested that the complaint be amended to include another basis of unconstitutionality, namely, that the statute was vague and arbitrary as worded, interpreted and enforced. Washington County filed a response, agreeing that the complaint should be dismissed as to the County. In its response, the State argued that the trial court should address the State's motion to dismiss before considering Trainer's motion to amend; and, that there was no need to amend the complaint as the State had already intervened. At a subsequent hearing, the trial court granted both motions to dismiss. In its order granting the State's motion, the trial court briefly addressed the issue of vagueness. Trainer filed this appeal from the trial court's dismissal of his complaint.

¶ 6. In this appeal, Trainer challenges the constitutionality of Miss.Code Ann. § 97-33-7 (making the possession of slot machines illegal), and Miss. Code Ann. § 97-33-17 (making monies exhibited from illegal gambling subject to seizure by the sheriff). Trainer claims he was deprived of a property right in the machines, and profits from these machines, without a hearing to determine if his machines were covered by the statute or if the seizure was valid. Trainer raises only one issue today, but phrases it in two parts, namely, whether sections 99-33-7 and 99-33-17 are unconstitutionally vague, and impermissibly allow seizure of personal property without a hearing, depriving individuals of property rights and due process under the federal and state constitutions.³

DISCUSSION

¶ 7. This Court has stated the scope of our power of review when interpreting the constitutionality of statutes:

Without doubt, our constitutional scheme contemplates the power of judicial review of legislative enactments; however, that power may be exercised affirmatively only where the legislation under review be found `in palpable conflict with some plain provision of the . . . constitution.' Statutes . . . come before us clothed with a heavy presumption of constitutional validity. The party challenging the constitutionality of a statute is burdened with carrying his case beyond all reasonable doubt before this Court has authority to hold the statute, in whole or in part, of no force or effect. When a party invokes our power of judicial review, it behooves us to recall that the challenged act has been passed by legislators and approved by a governor sworn to uphold the selfsame constitution as are we.

In re T.L.C., 566 So.2d 691, 696 (Miss. 1990) (quoting Hart v. State, 87 Miss. 171, 39 So. 523, 524 (1905) (internal citations omitted)).

I. WHETHER THE STATUTES MAKING IT A CRIME TO POSSESS GAMBLING MACHINES ARE UNCONSTITUTIONALLY VAGUE.

¶ 8. Trainer was arrested under Mississippi's criminal laws which make it a crime for any person to possess, display, or operate any "slot machine, pinball machine, or similar device or devices" except where the statute specifically allows it, such as in legal casinos. Miss.Code Ann. § 97-33-7(1) (Rev.2000).

(1) It shall be unlawful for any person. . . to have in possession, own, control, display, or operate any . . . slot machine, pinball machine, or similar device or devices.. . . Any slot machine . . . which delivers, or is so constructed as that by operation thereof it will deliver to the operator thereof anything of value in varying quantities, in addition to the merchandise received, and any slot machine. . . that is constructed in such manner as that slugs, tokens, coins or similar devices are, or may be, used and delivered to the operator thereof in addition to merchandise of any sort contained in such machine, is hereby declared to be a gambling device, and shall be deemed unlawful under the provisions of this section. Provided, however, that pinball machines which do not return to the operator or player thereof anything but free additional games or plays shall not be deemed to be gambling devices, and neither this section nor any other law shall be construed to prohibit same.

Id. This statute provides that certain illegal gambling devices include slot machines that "deliver to the operator thereof anything of value in...