People v. Chavez
People v. Chavez
Opinion of the Court
Defendant was accused of violating section 337a, subdivision 3, of the Penal Code in that he did unlawfully receive and hold money wagered upon the result of a horse race. Trial by jury was waived. He was convicted, and he appeals from the ‘ ‘ Conviction” and from the ‘1 denial” of his motion for a new trial. He contends that the corpus delicti was not established, and that the evidence is insufficient to support the conviction.
A police officer testified that he entered a cocktail bar in San Pedro on October 26, 1949, about 3:45 p. m., and sat at the bar; about 10 minutes thereafter, the defendant entered the bar and sat at the bar about three seats from the officer; the bar or counter has “a small turn in it” with five or six chairs “in the one turn” and about 20 chairs on the long side; the officer sat on the long side of the bar about two seats
Another police officer testified that he had made many investigations of bookmakers, had become familiar with books and papers commonly used by them, and had testified several times as an expert on bookmaking matters; that in his opinion the writing “BJ-85-B,” appearing upon the pad, indicates as follows: “BJ” indicates the bettor’s initials,—“85” indicates the eighth race and the fifth horse,—“B” indicates Bay Meadows racetrack; that according to the scratch sheet, dated October 26, 1949 (which was on the bar), the Bay Meadows track was running horses on that date, there was an eighth race listed at that track, and there was a fifth horse which had the name Holly Son; in his opinion the characters “BJ-85-B” mean a wager on Holly Son, a horse running in the eighth race at Bay Meadows, for a person known as “BJ”; where no amount is set out on a betting marker, the marker is commonly used as a two dollar wager. He testified further that the pencil notations upon the scratch sheet (which was on the bar) indicate the winning horses and mutuel
Defendant testified that he was a licensed ticket broker and trainer of prize fighters; he was in said bar at the time referred to by the officer; he sat at the bar; a man, whom defendant did not know, was sitting to the right of defendant; a scratch sheet was on the counter, but it was not in front of defendant—it was in front of the man to his right; that sheet did not.belong to defendant and he did not make any mark on it; he did not recall seeing the pad before the preliminary hearing; the writing “BJ-85-B,” on the pad, is not his handwriting ; the scratch sheet, which the officer took from defendant’s pocket, belonged to defendant and he had made notations on it to indicate the horses that he liked and played that day; a man by the name of Gus Collins, who owed defendant $4.65 for tickets, came to defendant in the bar and handed $2.00 to him to pay for tickets; defendant did not have any conversation with Collins about the races; Collins did not say “I would like to bet a horse,” or say anything like that; at the police station defendant said to the officer, 1 ‘ Give me a break”; the officers took an exemplar of his handwriting. On cross-examination he said he was not a licensed ticket broker in October at the time of his arrest, and that he did not get such a license until December; he did not have an appointment with the man who paid the $2.00, but he (defendant) was at that bar most of the time and people know where he is; he was following the races on the day he was arrested, and at 3:45 p. m. of said day he knew that all the eastern races had been run and that all the races at Bay Meadows except a few had been run; when the officer put his badge on the counter he put it on the small pad which was then on top of the scratch sheet.
Appellant was also accused of violating section 337a, sub
The substance of section 337a, subdivision 3, of the Penal Code, insofar as material here, is as follows: Every person who “whether for gain ... or gratuitously . . . receives, holds, or forwards, or purports ... to receive, hold, or forward, in any manner whatsoever, any money . . . bet or wagered, or to be . . . bet or wagered, or offered for the purpose of being . . . bet or wagered, upon the result, or purported result, of any . . . contest, or purported contest, of . . . speed or power of endurance of . . . beast, or between . . . beasts . . .;” is punishable by imprisonment. Said section 337a also provides that it “shall apply not only to persons who may commit any of the acts designated ... as a business or occupation, but shall also apply to every person . . . who may do in a single instance any one of the acts specified. . . .”
Appellant argues that the evidence does not show that the money was bet on the outcome of a horse race; that the evidence shows “merely a purported conversation wherein one person proposes to bet on a horse and the other person gives his assent”; that there was no “delineation” in the conversation as to any particular horse, race, money, or result. Although the conversation between the appellant and the second unidentified man, as related by the officer, did not include the name of a horse or a racetrack, the trial judge could infer from that conversation, from the payment of the $2.00, and from the presence of the marked scratch sheet and the pad in front of appellant that appellant received and held the money as a wager on a horse race. “The words ‘bet’ and ‘wager’ as used in section 337a of the Penal Code do not require the kind of agreement contemplated by the law of contracts under which there must be an actual meeting of the minds of the contracting parties in order to form an agreement.” (People v. Ohio, 82 Cal.App. 28, 34 [255 P. 205].) In People v. Woods, 35 Cal.2d 504 [218 P.2d 981], it was said, at page 509, a “. . . violation of subdivision 3 of section 337a, is committed when money is received as a wager on a race.” In People v. Hoffman, 94 Cal.App.2d 379 [210 P.2d 885], which was a prosecution under said subdivision 3 of section 337a, it was said at page 382: “The code section does
The evidence establishes the corpus delicti and is sufficient to support the judgment of conviction.
The judgment and the order denying the motion for a new trial are affirmed.
Shinn, P. J., and Vallée, J., concurred.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.