Indiana Court of Appeals rules man did not prove intoxication

February 28, 2011

Indiana: Last week, the Indiana Court of Appeals determined that a gambler who borrowed $75,000 from an Indiana casino was not intoxicated at the time and therefore had to pay back the money. The defense contended that Jimmy Vance was served seven whiskeys in four hours and seventeen minutes, placing him above the legal limit of intoxication. However, Judge James Kirsch wrote in the opinion, "Vance presented no evidence, besides listing the times he was served drinks, to support the defense that he was intoxicated at the time he signed the markers or that he did not understand what he was doing."

Because the court did not believe that the gambler proved his drunkenness, it refused to comment on the legality of a casino loaning money to a person that has been drinking.