The Great Olympia Slot Machine Sting

The gamblers of the state overreached themselves in their attempt to secure another test of the new gambling law, without placing the liberty of one of their number in jeopardy. Prosecuting Attorney Frank Owings on Thursday at Olympia filed a motion in the lower court to dismiss the case against Otto Stuth, on the ground that there was not sufficient evidence to sustain the charge. The motion was granted and Stuth has been released from the county jail. It is a well-settled rule of the supreme court that abstract questions will not be considered, so when the habeas corpus proceeding comes on for hearing by the supreme court the attorney general will move its dismissal and the motion will undoubtedly be granted. The plan of the gamblers was to have Stuth arrested for operating a money-paying slot machine, and then have the complaining witness disappear, then before the case could come on in the lower court apply to the supreme court for a writ of habeas corpus, attacking the constitutionality of the act. If the supreme court upheld the law again, Stuth would go free when his case came up to trial in the lower court for lack of complaining witnesses.