§708-881  Tampering with a
publicly-exhibited contest.  (1)  A person commits the offense of tampering
with a publicly- exhibited contest if:



(a) He confers, or offers or agrees to confer,
directly or indirectly, any benefit upon:



(i)  A contest participant with intent to
influence him not to give his best efforts in a publicly- exhibited contest; or



(ii)  A contest official with intent to
influence him to perform improperly his duties in connection with a
publicly-exhibited contest; or



(b) Being a contest participant or contest official,
he intentionally solicits, accepts, or agrees to accept, directly or
indirectly, any benefit from another person with intent that he will thereby be
influenced:



(i)  In the case of a contest participant, not
to give his best efforts in a publicly-exhibited contest; or



(ii)  In the case of a contest official, to
perform improperly his duties in connection with a publicly-exhibited contest;
or



(c) With intent to influence the outcome of a
publicly- exhibited contest he:



(i)  Tampers with any contest participant,
contest official, animal, equipment, or other thing involved in the conduct or
operation of the contest, in a manner contrary to the rules and usages
purporting to govern the contest in question; or



(ii)  Substitutes a contest participant, animal,
equipment, or other thing involved in the conduct or operation of the contest,
for the genuine person, animal, or thing.



(2)  In this section:



(a) "Publicly-exhibited contest" means any
professional or amateur sport, athletic game or contest, or race or contest
involving machines, persons, or animals, viewed by the public, but does not
include an exhibition which does not purport to be and which is not represented
as being such a sport, game, contest, or race;



(b) "Contest participant" means any person
who participates or expects to participate in a publicly-exhibited contest as a
player, contestant, or member of a team, or as a coach, manager, trainer, or
other person directly associated with a player, contestant, or team;



(c) "Contest official" means any person who
acts or expects to act in a publicly-exhibited contest as an umpire, referee,
or judge, or otherwise to officiate at a publicly-exhibited contest.



(3)  Tampering with a publicly-exhibited contest
is a misdemeanor. [L 1972, c 9, pt of §1]



 



COMMENTARY ON §708-881



 



  The purpose of this section is to penalize corruption of
publicly-exhibited contests.  It represents a broadening of previous
legislation penalizing sports bribery and tampering.  Note that
publicly-exhibited contest includes, by definition in subsection (2)(a), not
only sporting events, but also non- athletic contests, such as quiz shows.  In
addition to the possibilities of wholesale fraud, there is a substantial
element of public affront at rigging or tampering with the outcome of
publicly-exhibited contests:  witness the quiz show scandals of the last
decade.  Moreover, it is felt that such behavior should be deterred because it
"subjects legitimate entertainment and advertising to unfair and debasing
competition."[1]  The last part of subsection (2)(a) provides an exception
for exhibitions, such as some wrestling spectacles, which do not purport to be
and are not represented as being a sport, contest, game or race.



  Subsection (1)(a) defines the offense in terms of the bribe
offeror's conduct, whether it be addressed to the contest participant or the
contest official.  Subsection (1)(b) defines the offense in terms of the bribe
solicitor or receiver.  Finally, subsection (1)(c) is addressed to corruption,
not by bribery, but by improper meddling or clandestine substitution.



  Previous Hawaii law recognized the offense of bribery
involving participants and officials in professional or amateur sports
contests.[2]  The sanction provided seems unduly severe; it is roughly
equivalent to the Code's sentence for a class C felony.  The Code clarifies the
language of the offense, broadens its scope, and reduces the available sanction
to a misdemeanor.



 



__________



§708-881 Commentary:



 



1.  M.P.C., Tentative Draft No. 11, comments at 108 (1960).



 



2.  H.R.S. §725-7.



 



Note on Ticket Scalping, Fortune Telling,



Sorcery, and Allied Practices



 



  Some recent penal revisions have continued to make it an
offense to scalp tickets.[1]  The offense covers issuing or selling tickets: 
(1) without the price or seat, if any, printed conspicuously on them, (2) for
more than the price printed on the ticket or charged at the place of admission,
or (3) in violation of a condition making the tickets "nontransferable."[2] 
Hawaii previously had a law which covered the second mode of ticket
scalping.[3]  The Model Penal Code does not make such activity an offense and
any justification for a penal sanction does not readily appear.  The potential
harm which could result from the issuing or selling of tickets in blank form is
adequately covered by the sections on theft by deception and complicity.



  Fortune telling has also been made an offense in some
codes.[4]  Hawaii law previously had such a provision.[5]  Again, it is hard to
see why this activity should be made a penal offense per se.  If the activity
amounts, under aggravated circumstances, to theft by deception, the theft
sections can be employed.  The argument in favor of making fortune telling an
offense has been stated by the Michigan revision:



There may be
some question whether this conduct should continue to be criminal.  However,
persons holding themselves out to possess occult powers very often proceed to
take advantage of the gullible and persuade them to turn over money or
property.  While this activity amounts to theft by deception [citing section],
it may be difficult to prove.  A prohibition against fortune telling, etc., as
such drives the activity underground and reduces somewhat the opportunity to
practice frauds.[6] 



  In view of the coverage by the offense of theft, the utility
to be gained from driving the activity underground seems marginal.  Indeed,
driving the activity underground would reduce the opportunity to discover and
prove theft by deception which arises in this context.



  Hawaii law previously contained a section making sorcery an
offense.[7]  Since the section is based on using pretended power to cure
another, rather than intent to defraud that person, the practice seems adequately
covered and penalized as practicing medicine without a license.[8]



  For these reasons, the Code intentionally omits provisions
making ticket scalping, fortune telling, and sorcery penal offenses.



 



__________



Note on Ticket Scalping, Fortune Telling, Sorcery, and
Allied Practices



 



1.  Prop. Mich. Rev. Cr. Code §4220 and Minnesota Criminal Code
§609.805.



 



2.  Id.



 



3.  H.R.S. §747-21.



 



4.  Prop. Mich. Rev. Cr. Code §4225, and N.Y.R.P.L. §165.35.



 



5.  H.R.S. §772-7.



 



6.  Prop. Mich. Rev. Cr. Code, comments at 309.  (Emphasis
added.)



 



7.  H.R.S. §772-6.



 



8.  Id.  §§453-1, 453-2, and 453-13.