COMMONWEALTH v. FORRY

Criminal Law — Search and seizure — Probable cause — Information received by police officer — Possession by defendant of punch boards and other gambling devices — Evidence — § 603 of The Penal Code.

1. In this case, in which it appeared that an officer of the Pennsylvania State Police received a call from a reporter for a Chicago newspaper, informing the officer that federal agents had raided the premises of a firm in Chicago that was engaged in the manufacture of punch boards and that records had been found indicating shipments of punch boards to defendant; that about an hour later the officer received a call from a United States deputy attorney general, who gave him the same information which he had received from the reporter; and that the officer then called someone known to the officer as being familiar with this kind of activity, who reported that defendant was a distributor of punch boards, and that if a search were made of his home punch boards would be found in the basement; it was Held that the officer had probable cause to secure a search warrant.

2. Where it appeared that a search warrant was obtained, and the officers found about 4,000 punch boards, 4 horoscope machines with 104,000 tickets for them, a quantity of fish bowl tickets, and 13 slot machines; that the trial judge charged the jury that it could not convict defendant, under § 603 of The Penal Code, solely on the fact of possession of gambling devices, but only if it found beyond reasonable doubt that he maintained the devices to gain money or other profit of value, or aided others to do the same; and that the court below, holding that defendant had been fairly tried and that the evidence sustained the jury's verdict of guilty, overruled defendant's motions for new trial and in arrest of judgment; it was Held that the judgment of sentence of the court below should be affirmed.

Argued June 10, 1963.