Hardy V. State

This is a civil forfeiture case. The State of Texas seized, among other things, twenty gaming machines, commonly known as eight-liners, while executing a search warrant at Game Time Amusements in Burleson, Texas. Milton Wayne Hardy and Lovell Green Hardy, owners of Game Time Amusements, filed a petition seeking return of the seized items, contending that the State could not satisfy its burden to prove by a preponderance of evidence that eight-liners: (1) are illegal gambling devices under section 47.01(4) of the Texas Penal Code; and (2) are not protected from seizure by an exclusion to the term "gambling device" under section 47.01(4)(B) of the Penal Code. After a hearing at which both sides presented evidence, the trial court found that the seized eight-liners were illegal gambling devices and ordered their forfeiture. The court of appeals affirmed. 50 S.W.3d 689, 697.