South Carolina businessman Jimmy Martin received a certificate of occupancy from the city of San Antonio for an eight-liner gaming parlor on the Northeast Side in February 2020.
The next month, San Antonio police raided the business known as Silver Bell at 4133 Naco Perrin Blvd. after deeming it an illegal gambling establishment.
It was raided a second time a year later and again this January before Martin was forced to close for economic reasons. It had 61 eight-liner “amusement machines” — basically slot machines.
He and his businesses responded last week by suing the city, the San Antonio Police Department and two of its vice detectives, and the state of Texas. The case highlights a gray area in Texas law, which has drawn a distinction between illegal “gambling” and legal “amusement” operations. The difference comes down to how the players are rewarded.
Martin’s suit isn’t just about the Silver Bell. He also owns about 175 machines that had been deployed in four other eight-liner parlors — run by other operators — around San Antonio and one in Universal City. All four of the San Antonio locations were raided a total of seven times, resulting in them either shutting down or losing their leases.
Police confiscated some machines and damaged or destroyed others, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages, he alleges.
Martin also faces criminal charges for gambling promotion and possession of gambling paraphernalia. Both are Class A misdemeanors, with jail time of up to one year and a maximum fine of $4,000 on each count.
Gambling?
In his suit, Martin disputes the eight-liner game rooms are illegal gambling establishments. He wants a state District Court in San Antonio “to prevent further harassment and injury” from the defendants.
“As far as we can tell, Mr. Martin follows every state law and city ordinance to make sure his eight-liner amusement machines are not illegal gambling devices,” said one of his San Antonio lawyers, Joseph L. Korbel. “But still locations with his eight liners are being repeatedly raided by the San Antonio Police Department. Mr. Martin’s lawsuit seeks to put a stop to these raids.”
City Attorney Andrew Segovia said the city had not been served with the lawsuit but defended the city and SAPD. The city’s Development Services Department issues a certificate of occupancy based on the condition of the building at the time; the certificate does not regulate future operations, he said.
“In short, Mr. Martin’s certificate of occupancy is not a license to run a gambling operation,” Segovia said in an emailed statement. “SAPD investigated the site and the operations after complaints were received about a potential illegal gambling operation.”
Martin’s lawsuit comes two months after the 2nd Court of Appeals in Fort Worth ruled eight-liner machines “are lotteries and thus are unconstitutional machines.”
The Texas Civil Justice League, which promotes tort and civil justice reform, wrote last month on its website that if the Texas Supreme Court upholds the ruling, voters will have to approve a constitutional amendment to authorize eight liners, as they have for the state lottery and charitable raffles and bingo.
“Prospects of doing that any time soon appear to be dim at best,” the organization said.
Other operators
In his lawsuit, Martin says criminal charges were dismissed against two other San Antonio eight-liner parlor operators. One of the charges was dropped as recently as last month because of a missing witness, the court’s website shows.
Martin is represented by the same criminal defense lawyer as the other two operators. The lawyer didn’t respond to a request for comment.
“To date, SAPD has seized and destroyed plaintiffs’ property through 10 raids,” Martin says in his lawsuit. “But each subsequent raid is based on the same set of circumstances as what led to the dismissal of prior prosecutions involving the plaintiffs’ amusement machines.”
The first raid occurred in 2016 and the 10th happened in January, Martin’s suit says.
He accuses the police of first disabling surveillance cameras in the parlors and then “unlawfully yanking out and slicing off electrical connections” and removing parts to disable the machines.
Police also used a Jaws of Life on ATMs so they could pry open the cash containers with a crowbar, Martin alleges. They did so despite employees with keys offering to open the ATMs, he says.
Martin has estimated it will cost more than $300,000 to repair the eight liners.
Texas Penal Code restricts what may be awarded to players by amusement machines. Players can receive non-cash prizes, toys or novelties, or a representation of value redeemable for those items.
In his suit, Martin says his machines never reward players in cash, gift cards, future free plays or any other form of reward that could be considered currency. Players are awarded “bulk silver or silver trinkets,” with the wholesale value no more than $5 to comply with the state code, he says.
Martin’s claims in his suit are for interference with a contract and the taking of private property.
pdanner@express-news.net