(WJZ/AP) Baltimore, MD A week after a dramatic late night raid on an illegal poker tournament at a South Baltimore club -- a raid police described as their biggest since Prohibition -- prosecutors are dropping charges against the 80 players arrested.
Prosecutors said they're dropping the charges for a variety of reasons: Police used the wrong subsection of the law when they filled out the citations. It is not entirely clear that the right subsection would have been properly applied in this case. And recharging the players and taking them to court would tie up the city's already well-stretched resources.
"We don't believe there will be any new charges filed against the players," said Assistant State's Attorney Patricia Deros, chief attorney at the Eastside District Court, after reviewing the citations and obtaining final approval to dismiss them from city State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy.
Deros said part of the decision has to do with "judicial economy," or the cost of processing the cases. If the poker
players requested jury trials, as is their right, the court system could become even more overburdened, she said.
Police raided the Owl's Nest club just south of the Camden Yards sports complex where the Orioles and Ravens play on Nov. 2, arrested 95 people and seized more than $25,600 in cash, 16,020 poker chips, 141 decks of cards, and boxes of distilled liquor, wine and beer that allegedly was being sold without a license.
WJZ'S Sharon Lee spoke to Baltimore City Police. "we're looking int a number of possibilities. It's perhaps not over." said Matt Jablow, spokesperson for City Police. "We broke up an illegal poker game. They (the State's Attorney's Office) did what they thought was right. We disagree." he added.
Police charged 80 players, nine dealers, and four managers with illegal gambling and two waitresses with selling liquor without a license, said a police spokesman. Police also confiscated the circuit boards to more than a dozen electronic gaming machines that were on the premises, rendering the machines themselves inoperable.
Baltimore has not had a raid of comparable size since the vice squad hit a gambling spot in Greektown in 1932. Police said 72 people were arrested. News accounts put the number at 118.
Police, who have been in an ongoing tug of war over what prosecutors and judges complain are nuisance arrests, said the case for them may not be over.
Gambling charges and liquor violations remain against the other 15 persons arrested, said spokesman Donny Moses, including tournament organizers Gerald C. Dickens, 65, of Bowie and Joseph A. Cary, 50, of Pasadena, the dealers, and the waitresses.
Police Commissioner Leonard D. Hamm said his office would meet with prosecutors to discuss their different perspectives on how the case should be handled.
Asked by The (Baltimore) Sun whether the department was planning a widespread crackdown on poker tournaments - held regularly in fraternal organizations, bars and restaurants across the city - Hamm replied curtly, "We are going to enforce the law."
Sgt. Craig Gentile, a vice detective who organized the raid, declined to comment on the matter.
Some of the players caught in the raid, felt relieved to be off the hook.
"That's great news," said Michael Ruyter, 37, of Crofton. "I'll be able to sleep tonight."
Police charged the players under a subsection of law that states that a person may not "keep, rent, use or occupy" a building for the purpose of gambling. Deros said another subsection - one that prohibits a "bet, wager or gamble" - should have been applied.
"It's just not the appropriate subsection," she said.
Deros said the fact of the arrests might be enough to discourage illegal gambling in the city.
"Everyone is on notice now," she said. "Everyone knows this is illegal. We will review each and every future case. Had these 80 players been charged appropriately, we might have taken a different route and prosecuted them."
Prosecutors said they're dropping the charges for a variety of reasons: Police used the wrong subsection of the law when they filled out the citations. It is not entirely clear that the right subsection would have been properly applied in this case. And recharging the players and taking them to court would tie up the city's already well-stretched resources.
"We don't believe there will be any new charges filed against the players," said Assistant State's Attorney Patricia Deros, chief attorney at the Eastside District Court, after reviewing the citations and obtaining final approval to dismiss them from city State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy.
Deros said part of the decision has to do with "judicial economy," or the cost of processing the cases. If the poker
players requested jury trials, as is their right, the court system could become even more overburdened, she said.
Police raided the Owl's Nest club just south of the Camden Yards sports complex where the Orioles and Ravens play on Nov. 2, arrested 95 people and seized more than $25,600 in cash, 16,020 poker chips, 141 decks of cards, and boxes of distilled liquor, wine and beer that allegedly was being sold without a license.
WJZ'S Sharon Lee spoke to Baltimore City Police. "we're looking int a number of possibilities. It's perhaps not over." said Matt Jablow, spokesperson for City Police. "We broke up an illegal poker game. They (the State's Attorney's Office) did what they thought was right. We disagree." he added.
Police charged 80 players, nine dealers, and four managers with illegal gambling and two waitresses with selling liquor without a license, said a police spokesman. Police also confiscated the circuit boards to more than a dozen electronic gaming machines that were on the premises, rendering the machines themselves inoperable.
Baltimore has not had a raid of comparable size since the vice squad hit a gambling spot in Greektown in 1932. Police said 72 people were arrested. News accounts put the number at 118.
Police, who have been in an ongoing tug of war over what prosecutors and judges complain are nuisance arrests, said the case for them may not be over.
Gambling charges and liquor violations remain against the other 15 persons arrested, said spokesman Donny Moses, including tournament organizers Gerald C. Dickens, 65, of Bowie and Joseph A. Cary, 50, of Pasadena, the dealers, and the waitresses.
Police Commissioner Leonard D. Hamm said his office would meet with prosecutors to discuss their different perspectives on how the case should be handled.
Asked by The (Baltimore) Sun whether the department was planning a widespread crackdown on poker tournaments - held regularly in fraternal organizations, bars and restaurants across the city - Hamm replied curtly, "We are going to enforce the law."
Sgt. Craig Gentile, a vice detective who organized the raid, declined to comment on the matter.
Some of the players caught in the raid, felt relieved to be off the hook.
"That's great news," said Michael Ruyter, 37, of Crofton. "I'll be able to sleep tonight."
Police charged the players under a subsection of law that states that a person may not "keep, rent, use or occupy" a building for the purpose of gambling. Deros said another subsection - one that prohibits a "bet, wager or gamble" - should have been applied.
"It's just not the appropriate subsection," she said.
Deros said the fact of the arrests might be enough to discourage illegal gambling in the city.
"Everyone is on notice now," she said. "Everyone knows this is illegal. We will review each and every future case. Had these 80 players been charged appropriately, we might have taken a different route and prosecuted them."
