A state judge has refused to order the forfeiture of 77 arcade sweepstakes machines Honolulu police seized in 2012 because the city prosecutor took too long to file the request.
State Circuit Judge Randal K.O. Lee on Tuesday granted judgment in favor of PJY Enterprises, the company that owns the machines and opposed the forfeiture petition.
The judgement allows PJY owner Tracy Yoshimura to take possession of the Products Direct Sweepstakes machines Honolulu police seized from six Winner’z Zone arcades on Oahu on Sept. 27, 2012.
According to state forfeiture law, the seizing agency, in this case the Honolulu Police Department, has 30 days after the seizure to send the prosecuting attorney a written request for forfeiture. The prosecuting attorney has 45 days after receiving the written request to initiate forfeiture proceedings.
The city prosecutor filed forfeiture petitions for the machines in state court Dec. 19.
Deputy City Prosecutor Kurt Nakamatsu argued that when police officers seized the machines in 2012, they did it not for forfeiture, but to gather evidence of a crime. He said HPD then reseized the machines on Sept. 12 last year for the forfeiture.
The petitions say the machines were reseized from the arcades when they were already in HPD possession.
Lee said, "The state’s argument that the seizure for forfeiture occurred in 2014 is disingenuous."
He said search warrants and HPD reports pertaining to the 2012 raids on the Winner’z Zone arcades say that the machines were seized because they were used for illegal gambling and subject to forfeiture.
"If the court were to accept the state’s argument and allow the police to (re)date the seizure, this would circumvent the intent and purpose of the law and virtually eliminate any (constitutional) due process protection afforded to any individual," Lee said.
Yoshimura was among nine people who sued the city for the return of the other machines and were later charged with racketeering, money laundering and gambling. No one associated with the Winner’z Zone machines sued to get the machines back or was charged with a crime.
