People v. Nahmias — 29 N.Y. Crim. 310

Majority

p. 310

COURT OF SPECIAL SESSIONS — NEW YORK CITY,

March, 1913.

THE PEOPLE v. ABRAHAM NAHMIAS.

Headnote

Impairment oe morals op minors — Gambling Devices.^[1]

A machine which is so arranged that the insertion of pennies therein causes packages of gum to emerge therefrom, certain of which packages contain numbered coupons which entitle the holder to packages of candy ranging in value from one cent to ten cents, held to be a gambling device, and its maintenance in a store or other place resorted to indiscriminately by adults and children, to be a violation of section 483 of the Penal Law, making it a crime to permit a child under sixteen years of age to be placed in a situation likely to impair its morals.

Hon. Charles S. Whitman, District Attorney, with Floyd H. Wilmot, Assistant, for the People.

Frank Wolfson, for the Defendant.

There are no legal questions presented by this case differing from those discussed and decided in the case against Stein. The slot devices differ in construction but not in practical results. In this case the child gets a package of gum for each penny used but certain packages contained numbered coupons which entitled the player to chocolate candy ranging in value from one to ten cents; stated in the vernacular of the gambling fraternity the player bets one cent that he will get not only one piece of gum but from one to ten cents worth of candy, the proprietor takes the opposite side and the apparatus determines which is the winner. Under the ruling in the case against Stein this slot machine is a gambling device, its use is forbidden by the Penal Law, and permitting its use

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by children under sixteen years of age controvenes the inhibitions of section 483 thereof.

The motions of counsel are denied and the defendant is found guilty.

All concur.