Play Meter

~-
I
t
!
I '
8¥
Mille
Shaw
COUNTY BATTLES GRAY AREAS • BANNING IN BOSTON • LOTTERIES MIGHT USE "GRAY" GAMES • BALTIMORE
OPS GET BETTER DEAL • MORGAN'S AT IT AGAIN • ATARI CUTS WORKWEEK • AMOA OFFICER DIES • PEII
COURTS DIFFER • ASSOCIATIONS PUT HEADS TOGETHER • LOUISIANA OPERATORS FORM ASSOCIATION •
BELAM CELEBRATES ATARI APPOINTMENT
COUNTY
BATTLES
GRAY AREAS
A television station's First Amendment
rights are being fought over a
politican moonlighting as a distributor
of gray area games. and operators
are suing the county tor the return of
those games. And all of this is happen-
ing in the same battle over the legality
of video card games in St. Louis
County.
Sixty gray area games were
recently seized by St. Louis County
police. most of them August 5 . At least
some of those games were identified
as placed in taverns by Missouri Rep.
Francis Markwell. a resident of St .
Louis County.
To determine the extent of Mark-
well's involvement in the distribution of
illegal gambling devices. St. Louis
County prosecuting attorneys have
asked tor the outtakes of an interview
of Markwell by KMOX-TV reporter
Matt Meagher. During that interview.
Meagher. ·posing as a tavern owner
interested in obtaining video poker
machines from Markwell. deter-
mined that Markwell was operating
the video poker machines.
The county wants the full interview
to prepare its case against Markwell
and other video card game operators
lor the grand jury.
Because Meagher posed as a
tavern owner rather than admitting to
being a reporter. the prosecutors said
he forfeited his "journalistic immunity"
and his First Amendment rights to
protect the tapes of his conversations
from the county's review.
Additionally. the county prosecu-
tor's ottice said its position was that " all
the materials are necessary evi-
dence ... We believe the jurors are
PLAY METER. November 1. 1982
entitled to hear everything."
On the contrary. KMOX-1V said the
reports had " required confidential
sources whose identities had to be
protected.
Meanwhile a circuit court ordered
the tapes turned over to the county. but
KMOX-1V has won a stay of that order
from the state Court of Appeals while it
considers the lower court ruling.
St . Louis County prosecuting attor-
ney Craig Ellis said that if the
appellate court rules agaiP..st the
county. it will "take the case as tar as it
can." even to the U .S. Supreme Court.
He also said that KMOX-TV. and its
parent CBS. are expected to do the
same it the coun rules in favor of the
county.
Meanwhile the county is embroiled
in an ettort to establish that the video
card games it seized are gambling
devices.
The machines carry "for amuse-
ment only" signs. but police said bar-
tenders have been making payotts to
customers who beat the games.
"These are not amusement. but
illegal gambling devices." Ellis said.
He said most of the games seized
were Omega's Double Up machines.
but that video card games manufac-
tured by ElectroSport and Tuni Electro
were seized.
To substantiate its case. the county
has called on arcade operators who
have confirmed. said Ellis. that the
card games are not amusement
pieces.
"These arcades don't have the
games because they know people will
not play the games tor amusement."
he said. "The use of the machines is for
gambling."
However. at least three of the com-
panies operating or keeping the
games on location have contested the
county's position and have filed suits
against the county tor the return of
their games.
" Two bars have even put the games
back on location." Ellis said.
One of the operators supplying the
video card games to locations in St.
Louis County is Lloyd Grice. a member
of the Amusement and Music
Operators Association. He said the
video card games represent only 2 or
3 percent of his operation.
Four of the games seized in St. Louis
County belong to Grice. He said the
games were put on location because
location owners requested them.
" People demand the games," Grice
said. "and you have to get what they
want to retain the location."
Grice said the games he operates
are meant tor amusement only and
affirmed that a short playing time tor
each game is not a good argument
against the game's entertainment
value .
"You can get up to 25 free plays," he
said. implying that playing time tor
one quarter could be quite extensive.
Grice said he is not suing the county
for the return of his games because it
others will their suits against the
15