People v. Galan

The defendant was tried in a bench trial and convicted of gambling under a statute reading: “A person commits gambling when he . . . knowingly owns or possesses any book, instrument or apparatus by means of which bets or wagers have been, or are, recorded or registered.” Ill Rev Stats (1967), c 38, §28-1 (a) (5).

In January 1968, police raided a room in Chicago and found the defendant submerging a stack of soluble paper in a bathtub. The only exhibit introduced into evidence noted the name of a racetrack, the numbers of three races and the number of one horse in each race. It contained nothing…