Court Opinion

ID: 9622345
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 06:15:50.931604+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:05:15.817310
License: Public Domain

*727MARY R. RUSSELL, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. Defendant, represented by counsel, pleaded guilty to committing an offense under section 313.880.4(9), RSMo 2000.1 He admitted at his plea hearing that he went to his girlfriend’s cashier window with chips that he had purchased from another window and that his girlfriend gave him $415 more in cash than the face value of the chips. When asked by the court if this was done for the purpose of committing a prohibited act on a gambling boat, the Defendant responded affirmatively and stated that it was his intent to defraud the casino. He answered the required litany of questions from the court, including that his plea was knowing and voluntary. He now seeks to have his plea set aside.2
The majority neglects to consider the standard of review for the denial of a post-conviction determination refusing to set aside Defendant’s plea. Review is limited to whether the motion court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law are clearly erroneous. Wilson v. State, 813 S.W.2d 833, 834 (Mo. banc 1991). Findings and conclusions are clearly erroneous if, after a review of the entire record, the court is left with a definite and firm impression that a mistake has been made. Id.
Defendant pleaded guilty to conduct in violation of section 313.830.4(9), which provides that a person commits a class D felony and is barred for life from gambling boats if the person:
[cjlaims, collects, or takes, or attempts to claim, collect or take, money or anything of value in or from the gambling games, with intent to defraud, without having made a wager contingent on winning a gambling game, or claims, collects, or takes an amount of money or thing of value of greater value than the amount won[.]
Section 313.830.4(9).
Defendant’s conduct fits exactly within the statute’s language. He obtained casino chips with a face amount of $180 from a cashier at the casino. Without making a “wager contingent on winning a gambling game,” he collected money by presenting his chips to another cashier for $595 with the purpose of defrauding the casino of $415. His admission of this conduct at the plea hearing sufficiently established the factual basis for the court to accept his guilty plea.
Although Defendant argues now that there was an insufficient factual basis for the plea, the motion court correctly determined that the facts that Defendant admitted by his plea of guilty would result in him being guilty of the offense charged. It is acceptable if the Defendant admits to the charges as read where the language used is “simple, specific and sufficient to inform the defendant in terms that a layman would understand what acts he was charged with committing, and the commission of which constituted the crimes charged.” Hoskin v. State, 863 S.W.2d 637, 639 (Mo.App.1993).
The plain meaning of the words in the statute encompasses the Defendant’s actions. The motion court correctly found that casino chips are an integral part of gambling games, since they are a necessary component to participate in many of *728the games on the excursion gambling boats. Although the majority posits that the statute covers only conduct "with a direct connection to actual gambling, casino chips are directly connected to gambling as their sole purpose is for use in gambling games.
The language in the statute “in or from the gambling games” criminalizes a range of behaviors that may or may not occur during or while actually engaged in a gambling game. This position was followed in United States v. Manarite, 44 F.3d 1407, 1415 (9th Cir.1995), in interpreting a Nevada statute, similar to section 318.380.4(9), which prohibited taking anything of value “in or from a gambling game.” The crime involved the “skimming” of chips. The Ninth Circuit held that the statute did not require the taking to occur during a gambling game. Furthermore, by the Missouri legislature’s use of the phrase, “without having made a wager contingent on winning a gambling game,” it is implied that a person is not playing a game.
Other subdivisions of section 313.830.4, namely subdivisions 1, 2, 5, 6, and 13 are consistent with subdivision 9 in that they all criminalize conduct that could occur outside the “gambling games” and outside the confines of an excursion gambling boat, yet they still affect the integrity of the gambling games.3
Despite Defendant’s belief that he is guilty only of the class A misdemeanor of stealing, the legislature clearly intended to protect the public as consumers from unscrupulous activities historically connected with gambling by making the sanctions more harsh for crimes committed in association with the gambling industry. See Citation Bingo, Ltd. v. Otten, 121 N.M. 205, 910 P.2d 281, 287 (1995) (finding that statutes providing for legalized gambling are to be construed strictly or narrowly because of the strong public policy against gambling); State, Dept. of Law & Pub. Safety v. Gonzalez, 142 N.J. 618, 667 A.2d 684, 689 (1995) (stating that at the very heart of this public policy is the confidence and trust of the public in the credibility *729and integrity of the regulatory process and casino operations).
The motion court did not clearly err in overruling Defendant’s motion to set aside his guilty plea. Its judgment should be affirmed.

. All further references are to RSMo 2000.

. Defendant was sentenced to five years because he was a prior and persistent offender of two prior robbery convictions in Tennessee. He also pleaded guilty to the offense of tampering in the first degree and was sentenced to seven years to be served consecutively in the Missouri Department of Corrections, but this plea is not at issue in this appeal.

. Section 313.830.4 states in pertinent part:
A person commits a class D felony and, in addition, shall be barred for life from excursion gambling boats under the jurisdiction of the commission, if the person:
(1) Offers, promises, or gives anything of value or benefit to a person who is connected with an excursion gambling boat operator including, but not limited to, an officer or employee of a licensee or holder of an occupational license pursuant to an agreement or arrangement or with the intent that the promise or thing of value or benefit will influence the actions of the person to whom the offer, promise, or gift was made in order to affect or attempt to affect the outcome of a gambling game, or to influence official action of a member of the commission;
(2) Solicits or knowingly accepts or receives a promise of anything of value or benefit while the person is connected with an excursion gambling boat including, but not limited to, an officer or employee of a licensee, or holder of an occupational license, pursuant to an understanding or arrangement or with the intent that the promise or thing of value or benefit will influence the actions of the person to affect or attempt to affect the outcome of a gambling game, or to influence official action of a member of the commission;
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(5) Manufactures, sells, or distributes any cards, chips, dice, game or device which is intended to be used to violate any provision of sections 313.800 to 313.850;
(6) Instructs a person in cheating or in the use of a device for that purpose with the knowledge or intent that the information or use conveyed may be employed to violate any provision of sections 313.800 to 313.850;
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(13) Has in the person’s possession any device intended to be used to violate a provision of sections 313.800 to 313.850[.] Section 313.830.4(1), (2), (5), (6), (13).