Commonwealth v. 9 Mills Mechanical Slot Machines

437 A.2d 67, 62 Pa. Commw. 397, 1981 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1873
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 16, 1981
DocketAppeal, No. 2061 C.D. 1980
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 437 A.2d 67 (Commonwealth v. 9 Mills Mechanical Slot Machines) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. 9 Mills Mechanical Slot Machines, 437 A.2d 67, 62 Pa. Commw. 397, 1981 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1873 (Pa. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge Rogers,

Miles Angelo has appealed from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County ordering the confiscation and destruction of eleven gambling devices owned by Angelo and the forfeiture to Westmoreland County of monies contained therein, pursuant to Section 1 of the Crimes Code, 18 Pa. C. S. §5513(b) (Section 5513(b)). We affirm.

[399]*399On January 13, 1979, the B.P.O.E. Elks Club of Mount Pleasant (Club) held a “Las Vegas Night.” The event was open to any member of the public who paid a $1.00 admission charge. At approximately 11:15 p.m., members of the Pennsylvania State Police, in plain clothes, paid the admission fee and entered the Club. The officers remained in the Club for approximately one half hour, during which time they observed nine (9) slot machines, all of which were being played by patrons, one (1) Bally Deluxe Gold Cup machine (Gold Cup) and one (1) Electronic Draw Poker machine (Draw Poker). The officers, deeming these machines to be gambling devices, then confiscated them, along with $420.40 contained in the machines.

On April 23, 1979, the district attorney of Westmoreland County filed a petition to destroy the confiscated machines and to forfeit the monies contained therein. The petition was subsequently amended in minor detail and, on March 7, 1980, Angelo filed an answer to the petition. A trial was held after which the lower court issued an opinion and order holding that all of the machines were unlawful gambling devices per se and directing that the machines be destroyed and the monies contained therein forfeited pursuant to Section 5513(b). This appeal followed.

Angelo first contends that the Commonwealth failed to prove that its search of the Club was based upon probable cause, as required by the fourth amendment of the United States Constitution.1 This argument is without merit. In Commonwealth v. Weimer, 262 Pa. Superior Ct. 69, 396 A.2d 649 (1978), two plain clothes state troopers, without either search or [400]*400arrest warrants, entered a private club on two occasions. The club’s entrance was a locked door activated by a buzzer system. The door contained a one-way mirror. The officers merely pressed the doorbell and, although they were not members of the club, they were admitted without question. While in the club, the officers observed various gambling paraphernalia and subsequently confiscated the gambling equipment and arrested the club’s president and his son for possession of gambling devices. The defendants moved to suppress the confiscated gambling equipment on the ground that the police officers’ unannounced entry into a private club, without a warrant, constituted an unconstitutional infringement of the defendants’ right of privacy. The lower court granted the defendants’ motion to suppress. On appeal, the Superior Court stated that the essential issue of the case was

whether the interior of the [defendants’] club was a constitutionally protected area and whether the officers had a legal right to be inside the premises when they observed the gambling paraphernalia and affected the arrests. If they had such a right, then their observation of the gambling paraphernalia was sufficient to form probable cause to arrest and seize the immediate evidence.

262 Pa. Superior Ct. at 74, 396 A.2d at 651. The court held that the lax enforcement of the club’s purported security measures designed to insure the privacy of the club negated any reasonable expectation of privacy on the part of the defendants and that the interior of the club thus was not a constitutionally protected area. The court further held that the club’s admittance of the officers with little regard to their identity constituted an invitation, giving the officers a legal right to be in the club. Accordingly, the court [401]*401reversed the lower court’s order of suppressing the gambling paraphernalia.

In the instant case, the Elks Club’s claim to constitutional protection is even weaker than that of the defendants in Weimer. Here, not even a locked door was present to bar the officers’ entrance into the Club. The Club held Las Vegas Night open to any member of the public who paid the $1.00 admission fee and demonstrated no concern for the identity of its patrons. Therefore, here, as in Weimer, the interior of the Club was not a constitutionally protected area and the officers had a clear legal right to be inside the Club. The officer’s observations inside the Club then provided sufficient probable cause for them to seize the gambling devices pursuant to Section 5513(b).

Angelo next contends that gambling devices cannot be seized pursuant to Section 5513(b) unless a violation of Section 5513(a) is shown. Angelo bases this contention upon the language of Section 5513(b), which states in pertinent part that “ [a]ny gambling device possessed or used in violation of the provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall be seized and forfeited to the Commonwealth.” Section 5513(a) provides, inter alia, that it shall be a misdemeanor of the first degree to “intentionally or knowingly . . . maintain [],... [] [or] lease[], . . . any . . . slot machine or device to be used for gambling purposes, except for playing cards.” The undisputed evidence in this case reveals that Angelo did maintain and lease the nine slot machines and the two other devices, which were used for gambling purposes, to the Club. Therefore, the slot machines and the two other devices were “gambling devices possessed or used in violation of subsection (a).” Moreover, the fact that Angelo may or may not have been convicted under Section 5513(a) is irrelevant because [402]*402the legality or propriety of the seizure is not dependent upon the conviction of the owner under Section 5513(a). See Schuettler v. Mauer, 159 Pa. Superior Ct. 110, 46 A.2d 586 (1946).

Finally, Angelo contends that the lower court erred in holding that the Gold Cup machine and the Draw Poker machine are gambling devices. Angelo recognizes that three elements must exist for a device to be deemed a gambling device per se — consideration, chance and reward — and that the device can have no use other than for gambling. See, e.g., In Re Gaming Devices Seized at American Legion Post No. 109, 197 Pa. Superior Ct. 10, 176 A.2d 115 (1961). (Am. Legion No. 109). Angelo claims, however, that the Gold Cup machine lacks a reward and that the Draw Poker machine lacks chance and a reward.

The Gold Cup machine is similar to a slot machine, albeit electronic and with certain added features. Upon insertion of a dime, the player presses a lever which causes the machine to display various combinations of three symbols such as plums and oranges. The machine also allows a player to choose to hold some symbols over to the next game. Different payoffs are made for different combinations. The machine also allows a player who has obtained a winning combination to continue playing with a chance to increase his or her pay-off. A game takes approximately ten seconds. The pay-off ostensibly consists of free games, although the machine can be easily set up for cash pay-offs. In fact, cash pay-offs were made by the Club when a player obtained a certain number of free games.

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Bluebook (online)
437 A.2d 67, 62 Pa. Commw. 397, 1981 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1873, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-9-mills-mechanical-slot-machines-pacommwct-1981.