Stephanie Lee Matz

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Charge:	Unlawful possession of gambling devices
Sentence:
Years Imprisoned:
Year Crime:	2009
Year Convicted:
Year Cleared:	2012
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Iowa
County or Region of Crime:	Black Hawk
City of Crime:	Waterloo
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Stephanie Matz was wrongly convicted after a bench trial of unlawful possession of two gambling devices in the Waterloo, Iowa bar she owned and operated after she let the "amusement" device registration lapse for the two gaming devices. Matz appealed on the basis there was insufficient evidence to support her guilt. On December 12, 2012 the Iowa Court of Appeals reversed Matz' two convictions and ordered that a judgment of acquittal be entered on remand to the District Court. The Court ruled " There was no evidence that the machines, which previously satisfied the substantive definition of amusement devices, underwent design changes or adaptations to make them gambling devices or that they were used as gambling devices. ... Our conclusion that the amusement devices did not spontaneously transform into gambling devices upon a lapse in registration is supported by a complete reading of the amusement device provision. ... If an unregistered amusement device were to lose its status as an “amusement device” upon a lapse in registration, no person could be prosecuted for failure to register the device and subsections (2) and (3) would essentially be meaningless. Such a reading is not reasonable." The Court also stated the State's arguments in support of her convictions was flawed because their "argument has a logical fallacy; it assumes that if something is not “x” it must be “y.”" That is, if the devices were not registered as "amusement" devices then they must be "gambling" devices."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:	"On December 12, 2012 the Iowa Court of Appeals reversed Matz' convictions and ordered that a judgment of acquittal be entered on remand to the District Court."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Female
Skin/Ethnicity:
Information Source 1:	"State of Iowa v. Stephanie Lee Matz, No. 2-891, 11-1896 (Iowa Ct of Appeals, 12-12-12)"
Information Location 1:	http://www.iowacourts.gov/court_of_appeals/Recent_Opinions/20121212/2-891.pdf
Information Source 2:	"Waterloo club's gambling conviction overturned, By Jeff Reinitz (staff), WCF Courier, December 18, 2012"
Information Location 2:	http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/waterloo-club-s-gambling-conviction-overturned/article_289be2e0-6be2-57e3-9e63-5751787eb25e.html
Information Source 3:	"No last call just yet for troubled bar, By Jeff Reinitz (staff), WCF Courier (Waterloo, Iowa), October 6, 2009"
Information Location 3:	http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/no-last-call-just-yet-for-troubled-bar/article_fe1b40e6-b28b-11de-9b4b-001cc4c03286.html
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Stephanie Lee Matz

Charge:

Unlawful possession of gambling devices

Sentence:

Years Imprisoned:

Year Crime:

2009

Year Convicted:

Year Cleared:

2012

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Iowa

County or Region of Crime:

Black Hawk

City of Crime:

Waterloo

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

"On December 12, 2012 the Iowa Court of Appeals reversed Matz' convictions and ordered that a judgment of acquittal be entered on remand to the District Court."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Female

Skin/Ethnicity:

Information Source 1:

"State of Iowa v. Stephanie Lee Matz, No. 2-891, 11-1896 (Iowa Ct of Appeals, 12-12-12)"

Information Location 1:

http://www.iowacourts.gov/court_of_appeals/Recent_Opinions/20121212/2-891.pdf

Information Source 2:

"Waterloo club's gambling conviction overturned, By Jeff Reinitz (staff), WCF Courier, December 18, 2012"

Information Location 2:

http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/waterloo-club-s-gambling-conviction-overturned/article_289be2e0-6be2-57e3-9e63-5751787eb25e.html

Information Source 3:

"No last call just yet for troubled bar, By Jeff Reinitz (staff), WCF Courier (Waterloo, Iowa), October 6, 2009"

Information Location 3:

http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/no-last-call-just-yet-for-troubled-bar/article_fe1b40e6-b28b-11de-9b4b-001cc4c03286.html

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Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

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