Adult arcade leads to two convictions in Jefferson County

Friday, Oct. 14, 2005 | 6:42 a.m.

Jefferson County District Judge Robert Cahill convicted David Wayne Lawrence, the owner of Spin & Win Arcade, and Robert Richard Taylor, the operator, of 123 counts of possessing gambling devices Wednesday. The judge gave them 24 months on probation, fined them $61,500 each, and told them to stay away from the gambling business while on probation.

After announcing the decision, Cahill said the Legislature and the attorney general need to help law enforcement officers and judges decide what is legal.

In February 2004, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Dan King ruled several types of electronic machines were legal if the outcome was based on skill rather than chance, and they did not provide cash payouts. Since then, adult arcades have sprung up around the county.

Robert Sertell, a New Jersey-based gambling expert hired by the attorney general's office, said the games seized from Spin & Win during a May 12 raid were controlled by a computer chip, and skill did not control the outcome.

Many had been doctored to appear to be the types of machines approved by King in 2004, but actually were other games, Sertell said. The alterations could not be discovered without special equipment, he said.