105 F. Supp. 263 | S.D. Tex. | 1952
Just prior to the effective date of the Act of the Texas Legislature, making it a felony to have possession of slot machines within the State, Acts 1951, 52nd Leg., p. 299, ch. 178, Vernon’s Ann.P.C. art. 642a,
1: Unless prohibited by Statute, slot machines or other gambling devices may be freely shipped in either intrastate, interstate, or foreign commerce. A reading of such Statute, Act of January 2, 1951, and particularly Section 1172
The Government in this case has wholly failed to satisfy the burden of proof. In my view all the evidence offered showed unmistakably that the 65 slot machines in question, for the transportation of which defendants are being prosecuted, were shipped, not in either intrastate or interstate commerce, but in foreign commerce. Defendants are, therefore, entitled to 'have their Motion for Acquittal sustained. It is so ordered.
. Section 2 of such Act is as follows:
"Whoever shall manufacture, own, store, keep, sell, rent, lease, let on shares, lend or give away, transport or possess a slot machine, as defined in Section 1, shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall be confined in the State penitentiary not less than two (2) years nor more than four (4) years.”
. Foreign Trade Zones are provided for in Sections 81(a) to 81 (u), Title 19, U.S. C.A.
. Section 1172 is as follows:
“It shall be unlawful knowingly to transport any gambling device to any place in a State, the District of Columbia, or a possession of the United States from any place outside of such State, the District of Columbia, or possession: Provided, That this section shall not apply to transportation of any gambling device to a place in any State which has enacted a law providing for the exemption of such State from the provisions of this section, or to a place in any subdivision of a State if the State in which such subdivision is located has enacted a law providing for the exemption of such subdivision from the provisions of this section.
“Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to interfere with or reduce the authority, or the existing intepretations of the authority, of tho Federal Trade Commission under the Federal Trade Commission Act.”