Opinion ID: 1099746
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Patron Dispute

Text: ¶ 69. The majority finds that the Commission failed to comply with Miss.Code Ann. § 75-76-159(1), which provides: Whenever a licensee refuses payment of alleged winnings to a patron, the licensee and the patron are unable to resolve the dispute to the satisfaction of the patron and the dispute involves: (a) at least Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), the licensee shall immediately notify the executive director. (emphasis added). We addressed the failure of a casino to notify the Commission in Freeman, where we observed that Miss. Code Ann. § 75-76-159(3) mandates that [f]ailure to notify the executive director or patron as provided in subsection (1) is grounds for disciplinary action pursuant to XX-XX-XXX through XX-XX-XXX, inclusive. Freeman, 747 So.2d at 244. We stated that failure to notify does not entitle a patron to jackpot winnings which the evidence shows he or she did not win. Id. ¶ 70. Further, the record does not support the circuit court's and majority's conclusions that there was no prompt reporting of the incident regarding the casino's notification of the Commission. The record shows that Hallmark approached the slot machine at 2:15 a.m. and that the machine's lights came on at 2:17 a.m. Contrary to Hallmark's assertion that it took fifteen minutes for a casino employee to arrive at the machine, a casino employee arrived at the machine at 2:22 a.m., five minutes later. At 2:48, Head notified the surveillance department about the complaint, and the surveillance department notified the Commission. The agent returned the casino's call at 2:50 a.m. Thus, under the most liberal view of the evidence, there was at most a span of twenty-six minutes between the time a casino employee possibly knew the casino would not pay the alleged jackpot winnings to Hallmark and the time the Commission was notified and a Commission employee was on the scene within two hours. The record shows that during this time, the casino employees were attempting to determine whether the machine had malfunctioned and the cause of the malfunction. The testimony of all the employees involved indicates that they explained their actions to Hallmark prior to performing them and that Hallmark appeared satisfied with their explanations. ¶ 71. Significantly, the statute requires that the casino notify the Commission of the dispute when the patron and casino are unable to resolve the dispute, not when a dispute first arises. The majority claims the record reflects that Hallmark immediately disputed the casino's explanation. That is simply not true, the record reflects this is a disputed issue. The casino maintains that it notified the Commission once it was clear that Hallmark disagreed with its explanation. The record indicates that the Commission was notified as soon as it became clear that Hallmark disagreed with the casino employees' explanation of what had occurredthat is, when the reels completed their spin and the result was not a winning combination. This was the conclusion reached by the hearing officer. ¶ 72. The majority concludes that because the Commission was not contacted before the machine was opened, valuable evidence was lost and the investigation hindered. The majority, however, fails to state which evidence was lost and how the investigation was hindered. The uncontested expert testimony at trial demonstrated that opening the machine, testing the reels, spinning the reels, and even removing the wheels has absolutely no effect on the outcome of the game. The only dispute at trial which would have been aided by preservation of the machine in its condition at the time the alleged jackpot occurred was the dispute over whether the reels at that time indicated a $509,000 jackpot or a $20,000 jackpot. Nevertheless, the position of the reels is irrelevant where there is a machine malfunction and no jackpot at all. The hearing examiner found that the machine malfunctioned, and, as discussed previously, this finding is amply supported by the evidence.