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MAY MEAN RACING 11EYIYAL IMPORTANT DECISION BY SUBREME COUHT JUSTICE IN NEW YORK STATE Directors of Racine Associations Absolved From Lia ¬ bility for Betting Carried on Without Their Per serial Knowledge Decision Frees Paul Shane New liirfc October 15 Justice Townsend Scudder of the Supreme Court Nassau County handed down a tteiMuii last Saturday which opens tho way for a general revival of thoroughbred racing in New York YorkThis This WHS in the longdelayed case of Paul Shane ivbti tvas arrested on June 0 last at a meeting of the i nlcd Hunts Racing Association at Belmont Park UVrniliial charged with the crime of bookmaking cltMiu was hold lor examination by Justice of the Peace Charles F Gittcns of Heinpstead L I But lRtor bis case was called Surrogate John J Oraham iiunMl for tlie defendant obtained a writ of habeas corpus which was made returnable immediately anil argued ScudderMr that same ilay before Justice Scudder Mr Graham and Assistant District Attorney rharles T McCarthy submitted briefs A speedy determination of the case was held up by the request if Samuel Marcus counsel for the Society for the ii veiitioa of Crime for permission to submit a brief which was granted grantedThe The matter was of paramount importance for the icjsou that it involved not only the directors of the fulled Hunts Racing Association but also the direc ¬ tors of the Belmont Park Racing Association own ¬ ers and lessors of the property at Uelmont Iark Terminal Terminalliie liie decision of Justice Scudder orders the release tif 1aul Shane who had been placed in the custody vt his counsel and absolves all the directors con erned of any responsibility for his acts or for the a is of any person arrested under the same circuin tanceti tancetiTlie Tlie precedent established Is of the utmost valnu to the racing interests since it maintains the right of individuals t bet privately on a racetrack when l tijiur is iot rcirried on with paraphernalia and as u tjusijieHS tjusijieHSThe The court sajs that the information lodged against Suii efore the Justice of the Peace insufficiently fiiarges the commission of the crime of bookmakitig jr with or without writing under Section i8J of ihe Penal Law as amended by L 11UO c 488 which in substance alleges that tho defendant unlawfully Wilfully and privately made several bets orally and without writing but that a memorandum of each of tin bets was prepared by the opposite party thereto and shown the defendant Such an information fails to set forth tlie chief tlemeim of the crime of bookmaking as defined by thy courts in that among other things it fails to barge the defendant with the public quoting and offering of odds with tho soliciting of bets with inducing the public to take chances with him in any scheme of odds and with effecting through his methods any passing of money or property propertyShane Shane had paid the usual fee for admission and was present sw si spectator According to a depori 101 bv Deputy Sheriff Michael Williams who made the arrest tho defendant was walking around the grounds and making oral bets with various persons who handed him a memorandum of each wager wagerThe The decision of Justice Scudder cites an opinion of lit Court of Ap eals in the Lichteustein case lief ore tin words with or without writing were read into the present statute That case was decided m favor f the defendant Justice Scudder says that the institution f the state forbids bookmaking but does not define the term Neither docs the amended ilyVvJn togct at the intent of the Legislature tnit i Sfiidder cites the Lambrlck case in which Section flSO before its J st ce 0 n interprets amendment as wing aimed at public gambling pro fessoial gamblers and ihe maintenance of gam hlTng houses which alone have been subject to the Shane was not charged with public gambling but W th contrary it is alleged that he did privately privatelyC1nMtnrorrmaltIonalso C1nMtnrorrmaltIonalso failed to allege that Shane who Misagcs in making bets tho words wss one the statute which imports a continuity of riti ed i The court holds that engaging la Iwok limUtm is betting but ordinary betting on a horse horserar rar Utiislimre has not made it a crime to bet i rJces and the court Is powerless to do so n personal liability of tho directors of a 10 te IIH s iwcJtion the court agrees with the District mornev that te directors1 liability law requires i nw ed o of the acts constituting the crime on the and concludes The accused of the Persons IN pt m iuit nerinit the conviction of the owner of 1 iVlrcV who has no knowledge of the fact that Snaking not ordinary betting is going on upon uponT T mriNnildly rebuked tho Society for the P that raceIn JV lVat the owners and directors of a race In Iodny U f of connivance in violat trik violattrik t IK b eld g guilty niio thelaw cijiinp cijiinpt tinless Ucy aAc u c knowlwlct t at atjiiv jiiv tracfe n l kmaking wnvislon Justice Scudder was I iiir that l okmaking and not ordinary te articular to o s satciuat directors Infore they theyntJl ntJl aJsnmed to haveany knowledge of violation violationMM MM tYilwl racing in New York was the pro whUh made the owners and direc ¬ vl tion nf II tnc e law law racing associations criinin V liable lr JaC for vhiHtio s of the antibottlng law on ally This impelled on dtr tne their r control th nrenuMH ne t as u ni that the owners responsibility responsibilityking nnd director nakng king bets es on a horse raw for tlie acts of V1 V1nsu nsu iinheW th ro would appear iMit not the race tracks in New 1okmafkn0o pen ng sln Vork Stahat Stahatlino lino
