Commonwealth v. Wida

RANCK, J.,

On January 3, 1979, the Pennsylvania State Police, armed with a search warrant, entered the fire company building of the Americus Hose Company of Sunbury. As a result we have, so far as we can determine, a novel constitutional challenge to the criminal gambling laws of Pennsylvania.

Defendant herein, Michael R. Wida, president of the Americus, was subsequently arrested and charged with violating sections 5512 and 5513 of the Crimes Code of Pennsylvania.1 At the hearing *3before this court on defendant’s omnibus pretrial motion, Mr. Wida admitted that the Americus conducts gambling on…