Columbus v. Patelis
Columbus v. Patelis
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
The appeal is from a judgment of conviction and sentence of the. defendant in the Municipal Court of the City of Columbus. Defendant was charged with unlawfully having in his possession memorandum slips of a number of shares in a scheme of chance in violation of Section 1089-1, City Code.
There is one assignment of error, namely, the judgment of the Court is contrary to law and not sustained by the evidence and this assignment is subdivided into four specific claims of error. The first is that the ordinance must be strictly construed. If by this assignment it is asserted that the charge in the indictment must be strictly construed in favor of the defendant, it is concededly correct.
Subdivision (b) is that the defendant cannot be made subject to the ordinance by implication. This likewise is true.
Subdivision (c) is that there must be proof of all the necessary elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Manifestly, this is a correct statement of the law. Subdivision (d) is that the City’s case lacks an essential element of proof, namely, that the numbers game in connection with which the slips may have been sold was not shown to be a game of chance.
Without citing any authorities we are content to state what the evidence offered by the State discloses. The wit
It is manifest that every material element of the offense charged is either directly proven or established by permissible and proper inference from the direct testimony. Inasmuch as the defendant did not see fit to deny any part of the testimony of any witness, it is apparent that the trial judge was not only acting well within the legal intendment of the factual development, but that he could have reached no other conclusion than that the defendant had been proven guilty of the offense charged beyond doubt. The judgment will be affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.