2007.04.13

2006 (A) 1605

Keishu Vol. 61, No. 3

Decision concerning whether or not the act of playing a pachinko-slot machine game while having on one's body an electronic device, generally referred to as a sensory device, exclusively for the purpose of illegally obtaining medals, constitutes the crime of theft

Case to be brought for breaking into a building, and theft

Decision of the Second Petty Bench, dismissed

Sapporo High Court, Judgment of June 22, 2006

1. The act of playing a pachinko-slot machine game while having on one's body an electronic device, generally referred to as a sensory device, with the intent to use it exclusively for the purpose of illegally obtaining medals, constitutes the act of committing the crime of theft, even where the said device does not directly operate or affect the pachinko-slot machine in an illegal manner.

2. Where a person obtained medals by playing a pachinko-slot machine game while having on his/her body an electronic device, generally referred to as a sensory device, with the intent to use it exclusively for the purpose of illegally obtaining medals, the person should be deemed to have committed the crime of theft with regard to all medals obtained.

(Concerning 1 and 2) Article 235 of the Penal Code

Article 235 of the Penal Code
(Theft)
A person who steals the property of another commits the crime of theft and shall be punished by imprisonment with work for not more than 10 years or a fine of not more than 500,000 yen.

The final appeal is dismissed.

The reasons for final appeal argued by the defense counsel, FUKUSHIMA Akira, including the reason alleging violation of the Constitution, are in effect nothing more than assertions of errors in fact-finding or violation of laws or regulations other than the Constitution, and none of them can be regarded as a reason for final appeal permissible under Article 405 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
After considering these assertions, however, we decided to make judgment by this court's own authority.
1. According to the findings and records of the judgment of prior instance, the outline of this case is as follows:
(1) Among spinning-reel gaming machines (hereinafter referred to as "pachinko-slot machine") installed in the pachinko parlor in question (hereinafter referred to as the "Victimized Store"), the machines named "X" decide the successive occurrence of big hits by using a set of random numbers cyclically generated by the electronic circuit built therein.
(2) The electronic device with a built-in electronic circuit that the accused secretly put on his/her body, which is generally called a sensory device (hereinafter referred to as the "Device"), has the function to synchronize its cycle of random numbers with that of the pachinko-slot machine, thereby enabling the player to determine the order of pressing the spin stop buttons so as to cause a matching of symbols which triggers the successive occurrence of big hits from the machine. The Device is used exclusively for the purpose of illegally obtaining medals from playing pachinko-slot machine games.
(3) The Victimized Store did not allow visitors to bring a special device intended to be used for playing pachinko-slot machine games in an illegal manner, such as a sensory device, into the store. It also prohibited the act of playing games using a sensory device, and announced this rule to visitors by posting it within the store. The accused was aware of it.
(4) While having, from the beginning, the intent to illegally obtain medals by using the Device, the accused entered the Victimized Store and played a pachinko-slot machine game with the pachinko-slot machine X, Machine No. 55. By using the Device, the accused successfully caused a matching of symbols and triggered the successive occurrence of big hits, and obtained about 1,524 medals in total.

2. Under the factual circumstances mentioned above, if a person plays a pachinko-slot machine game while having on his/her body the Device, which has the aforementioned function, with the intent to use it exclusively for the purpose of illegally obtaining medals, and trying to open up the opportunity to illegally obtain medals, such an act goes beyond the bounds of an ordinary manner of playing a pachinko-slot machine game, even though the Device does not directly operate or affect the pachinko-slot machine in an illegal manner. It is obvious that stores where pachinko-slot machines are installed do not allow such a manner of playing games. It follows that the medals that the accused obtained from the pachinko-slot machine X, Machine No. 55 should be deemed to have been obtained by infringing the possession of the medals by the medal administrator of the Victimized Store against the administrator's intent and placing the medals in the accused's possession, irrespective of whether or not the medals were obtained as a result of the manipulation of the Device. Consequently, the determination of the court of second instance is justifiable in that the court found the accused's act of obtaining about 1,524 medals to constitute the crime of theft.

Therefore, according to Article 414 and Article 386, para.1, item 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the decision has been rendered in the form of the main text by the unanimous consent of the Justices.

Justice IMAI Isao
Justice TSUNO Osamu
Justice NAKAGAWA Ryoji
Justice FURUTA Yuki