The Closing Arguments at Richard Taylor's Craps Case
On May 22nd, 2009, a New London court jury started deliberating in what is the state's landmark casino cheating trial. 43 year-old Richard S. Taylor of Memphis, Tennessee is accused of leading a cheating scandal involving craps players and craps dealers at Foxwoods Resort Casino. The jury started deliberating about 2:00 p.m. The 6 member panel will start deliberating about the case at 2:00 p.m.
The 6-member panel will resume their deliberations on Tuesday. State prosecutor Stephen M. Carney said in his closing argument that Mr. Taylor's claim that he possess a winning craps system was a lie. Taylor had composed a winning technique in which the bettor choose certain numbers on the craps table based on the results of the previous roll. The state had brought in an expert who said that each roll of the craps dice is random.
Carney referenced casino dealers who had testified that Taylor recruited them to pay gamers for late wagers and how they met up with Taylor or other gamers outside of the casino facility to collect their part of the profits. A total of 11 employees of Foxwoods Casino were apprehended by police officers. Their cases have been set aside pending the result of Taylor's case and several took the witness stand over the past week to testify in behalf of the state.
According to one of the ex-casino employees, Taylor told him that if the craps system failed, it was still okay because he had people in every casino facility in the state who would accept a late wager. Taylor's lawyer, Ralph U. Bergman, pointed out to Taylor's earlier demonstration of his winning craps strategy. Taylor appeared to have a hot streak when he tossed the dice on a makeshift craps table on courtroom.
Bergman said that if a player wagers everything on what Mr. Taylor bets, they would have left the casino with their pockets full. Bergman added that Taylor does not need to cheat in craps because he possess a winning system. Bergman said that for the casino, everything is a business decision and since Taylor is a winner, they did not like him.
In his rebuttal, state prosecutor Carney said that the casino facility is not the victim in this situation but the people of the state of Connecticut. The state police have power over criminal matters in the region's tribal casinos pursuant to the compact that was negotiated between Connecticut and the Mashantucket Pequot tribe and the Mohegan tribe when the casinos opened.
2009-07-02
David M. Bedingfield
