City of Shreveport v. Bowen

Citations

• 116 La. 522
• 40 So. 859
• 1906 La. LEXIS 527

Syllabus

<p>1. Vagbanoy—Affidavit—Sueitcienoy.</p> <p>Where, under an ordinance (and statute authorizing it), denouncing as vagrants all persons who live by gambling, and imposing a penalty, the charge is made that “the defendant is a vagrant, being a person without visible means of support, who gambles, at the game of draw poker, for a living,” the charge should be entertained and the trial proceeded with.</p> <p>[Ed. Note.—For cases in point, see vol. 14, Cent. Dig. Criminal Law, § 717; vol. 24, Gent. Dig. Gaming, § 237.]</p> <p>2. Criminal Law—Judicial Notice—Deaw P oker—Definition .</p> <p>There is no law in this state which undertakes, by enumeration or otherwise, to define all the forms of gambling, and it would be a work of superoration to do so, in so far as the game of draw poker is concerned, since it is a matter of common knowledge that it is a gambling game, pure and simple, probably more widely recognized as such than any other game known to the American people.</p> <p>3. Vagbanoy—Complaint.</p> <p>But, to gamble is “to play, or game, for money or other stakes,” and the offense denounced by the statute, and with which the defendant is charged, is gambling for a living. It is immaterial, therefore, for the purposes of the charge, whether any game' is specified, or, if specified, what game it is, since any game may be played for money or other stakes, thus making it “gambling,” and, when the gambling is carried on as a means of livelihood, it falls within the ban of the statute and becomes the offense charged by it.</p> <p>(Syllabus by the Court.)</p>