Young v. Commonwealth

DUNCAN, Justice. The appellants, Hugh T. Young and K. A. Cormney, were convicted of the offense of keeping or leasing premises where bets are placed on races or other contests, and their punishment was fixed at a fine of $4,000 each and six months in jail. KRS 436.440. A number of errors are claimed in appellants' brief, but we shall discuss the single ground which, in our opinion, requires reversal. The appellants objected to certain statements made by the Commonwealth Attorney during his closing argument to the jury. Motions were made to exclude certain parts of the argument and set aside the swearing of the jury. All objections and motions were overruled and proper exceptions were taken. Since it would unduly lengthen the opinion to quote at length from the argument, we merely summarize some of the unwarranted statements which were made.