Dann files appeal over gambling machines

COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio’s top law enforcer on sought Monday to overturn a judge’s order that stops the state from enforcing a ban on electronic gambling machines in bars and other businesses.

Allowing Tic-Tac-Fruit machines to continue, even temporarily, would bring neighborhood degradation, gambling addiction, prostitution and other social ills associated with gambling, Attorney General Marc Dann said in a filing with the 10th Ohio District Court of Appeals.

At issue is whether Tic-Tac-Fruit, in which bettors try to line up pieces of fruit on a video screen, is a game of skill, as proponents claim, or a game of chance, which is illegal in Ohio.

Dann ordered last week that 50,000 of the machines be shut down. On Friday, a judge granted a temporary restraining order to Ohio Skill Games Inc., which distributes the game Tic-Tac-Fruit.

William Meeks, an attorney for the distributor, said he expects to file a response with the appeals court on Tuesday.

“We obviously don’t think the attorney general’s case has merit,” Meeks said.