Hatfield

An information filed by the district attorney of San Diego County charged the appellant with having violated certain subdivisions of section 337a of the Penal Code, one of which prohibits the occupancy of a room or any part thereof “with a book or books, paper or papers, apparatus, device or paraphernalia, for the purpose of recording or registering any bet or bets, or any purported bet or bets, or of selling pools, or purported pools, upon the result, or purported result, of any trial, or purported trial, or contest, or purported contest, of skill, speed or power of endurance of man or beast,” etc. The information consisted of three counts, alleging, respectively, the violation of subdivisions 2, 3, and 4 of said section, in that appellant maintained and occupied such a room with the books, papers, and paraphernalia for registering bets and selling pools on horse-races; that he received, held, and forwarded money to be staked and bet on the results of horse-races, and that he recorded and registered bets and wagers on the results of such contests. He was convicted upon the first count only, and appeals from the judgment upon several grounds.

The argument urged for reversal…