State v. Schlein

854 P.2d 296, 253 Kan. 205, 1993 Kan. LEXIS 105
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedJune 16, 1993
Docket67,354, 67,355
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 854 P.2d 296 (State v. Schlein) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Schlein, 854 P.2d 296, 253 Kan. 205, 1993 Kan. LEXIS 105 (kan 1993).

Opinions

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Lockett, J.:

Defendants Charles J. Schlein and Robert W. Burgoon were each convicted of one count of gambling in violation of K.S.A. 21-4303(b) (entering or remaining in a “gambling place” with intent to make a bet). Schlein and Burgoon each were separately sentenced to serve 30 days in the Johnson County Adult Detention Center and fined $150.

[206]*206Both appealed, claiming the State failed to prove the place they had entered or remained in was a “gambling place.” Schlein also claims that the trial court’s instructions failed to define a gambling place. The Court of Appeals reversed their convictions. 17 Kan. App. 2d 434, 839 P.2d 58 (1992). The State’s petition for review was granted.

James Carmack, special agent with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), discovered a flier at the Woodlands racetrack advertising an annual marathon poker tournament. The flier included a map showing the location, date, and time the tournament would be played. On the date advertised in the flier, KBI agents and Overland Park police officers investigated the poker tournament being held at the location stated in the flier, a residential address in Johnson County, Kansas.

Police detective John Jackson, wired with a transmitter and working undercover, went to the residence and asked the suspected tournament organizer if he might participate in the tournament. After Jackson paid the organizer an entry fee of $150, he was escorted next door to the adjoining half of the two-story duplex. The suspected tournament organizer was the lessee of both premises. Half of the duplex was occupied as his family residence. Jackson walked through the lower level of the tournament half of the duplex, going from room to room. He observed only a table and chairs in the dining room and a sofa and television in the living room.

Approximately eight men were present when Jackson arrived. Jackson watched other individuals arrive. Each paid the $150 entry fee. While waiting for the tournament to commence, Jackson read information supplied by the tournament organizer. It explained the entry fees, a breakdown of how the money would be paid to the winners, what poker games would be played, how much betting would be allowed in each round, the times the players would be playing, break times, and the rules of the tournament.

Eventually, 22 people, including Jackson, assembled to play poker. The tournament organizer gathered the players together, explained the rules, and assigned each player a number that corresponded to a chair on the second floor in which the player would be seated.

[207]*207The players then went upstairs. Green-topped card tables had been placed in each of the three upstairs rooms. At each card table were chairs with numbers on them. Poker chips and playing cards were on each table. No other furnishings were in the rooms. Jackson located his assigned chair in one of the rooms. He began playing various poker games with other players, using the poker chips to bet. Jackson left his chair twice, looked, into the other two rooms, and observed other individuals playing poker.

At approximately midnight, after Jackson signaled, the other •police officers and the KBI agents entered the home and arrested the tournament players. The KBI agents seized several gambling related items, including four card tables, a number of stacking chairs, numerous boxes of poker chips, playing cards, $1,777 in cash, a tournament survey sheet, "tournament rules and information sheets, and a trophy etched with “St. Patrick’s Day Marathon Poker Championship” and the prior winners’ names dating back to 1987.

Complaints were filed against Schlein and Burgoon alleging each had engaged in gambling in violation of K.S.A. 21-4303(b). During Schlein’s trial, Detective Jackson testified that at one time he patrolled the area of Overland Park in which the residence is located. Jackson admitted that he had never heard of gambling taking place on the premises before the night of the tournament. Jackson stated that to his knowledge the property had never been used previously for gambling purposes. Special agent Carmack testified he did not know whether the residence had ever been used for gambling prior to the poker tournament and, to his knowledge, the premises were used for gambling only on this one occasion.

At the close of the State’s evidence, Schlein moved the trial court for judgment of acquittal, asserting the State had failed to prove he had entéred and remained in a gambling place for the purpose of making a bet. Schlein argued the State had failed to prove that the premises had been used previously as a gambling place.

In ruling on a motion for judgment of acquittal, if a trial judge concludes from the evidence that a reasonable mind might fairly decide a defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, the motion must be denied and the case must go to the jury. The trial [208]*208court denied Schlein’s motion. On appeal, the reviewing court must decide whether a rational factfinder could have found the accused guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Crichton, 13 Kan. App. 2d 213, 218-19, 766 P.2d 832 (1988), rev. denied 244 Kan. 739 (1989).

During the jury instruction conference, Schlein objected to the trial court’s instruction on die elements of the crime of gambling and requested his proposed instruction be given. The trial court overruled Schlein’s objection. After deliberations, the jury found Schlein guilty.

Burgoon did not request a jury trial. In a trial to the court, Burgoon and the State stipulated that (1) there was a poker tournament, which involved the playing of cards, betting, and the exchange of money which took place at a house address in Overland Park, Johnson County, Kansas; (2) this place was an unoccupied one-half of a duplex which contained poker tables, poker chips, playing cards, and poker rules and game schedules; (3) the defendant took part in the tournament and he willfully entered and remained in the- house with the intent to make a bet; (4) the winners of the tournament were to receive cash prizes; and (5) this tournament had been held in prior years at various locations. The stipulation also indicated the State had and would offer as evidence poker rules, a trophy, poker player names including the name of Robert W. Burgoon, and other written paraphernalia. Based upon the stipulation, the trial court found Burgoon guilty.

On appeal, Schlein contends the trial court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal, while Burgoon contends the trial court erred in finding him guilty, because the State did not prove they had entered a “gambling place.” The defendants argued to the trial court there was no evidence that the residence had a reputation as a gambling place or that the residence was frequently visited by persons known to be commercial gamblers. The defendants asserted K.S.A. 21-4303(b) contemplates something more than one evening of gambling at a location before the statute is violated.

Gambling is entering or remaining in a gambling place with intent to make a bet, to participate in a lottery, or to play a gambling device. K.S.A.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Ross
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2025
State v. Harris
551 P.3d 240 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2024)
United States v. Dicristina
886 F. Supp. 2d 164 (E.D. New York, 2012)
State v. Valdez
977 P.2d 242 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1999)
State v. Johnson
959 P.2d 476 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1998)
State v. McCown
957 P.2d 401 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1998)
United Cities Gas Co. v. Brock Exploration Co.
984 F. Supp. 1379 (D. Kansas, 1997)
State v. Hernandez
944 P.2d 188 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1997)
State v. Fisher
942 P.2d 49 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1997)
Radke Oil Co. v. Kansas Department of Health & Environment
936 P.2d 286 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1997)
State v. Lanning
925 P.2d 1145 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1996)
Boucher v. Peerless Products, Inc.
911 P.2d 198 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1996)
State v. Chronister
903 P.2d 1345 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1995)
Attorney General Opinion No.
Kansas Attorney General Reports, 1995
State v. Caldwell
901 P.2d 35 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1995)
State v. McCallum
895 P.2d 1258 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1995)
State v. Peal
893 P.2d 258 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1995)
State v. Duff
888 P.2d 861 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1995)
State v. Myers
888 P.2d 866 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1995)
State v. Sidders
888 P.2d 409 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1995)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
854 P.2d 296, 253 Kan. 205, 1993 Kan. LEXIS 105, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-schlein-kan-1993.