Essay Sample on Terrance Watanabe: From CEO to Compulsive Gambler

Introduction

Mr. Terrance Watanabe is a renowned businessman who inherited most of his fortune from his father, including the Oriental Trading Company. In 2000, Mr. Watanabe sold all his shares in the company to a firm based in Los Angeles for an undisclosed amount of money and resigned as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Oriental Trading Company. Shortly after selling out his company shares, Mr. Watanabe began to excessively indulge in gambling and was well known for his addictive gambling behavior, especially in casinos around Las Vegas. Watanabe was also known for his overindulgence in alcohol and other substances. Because of his addiction to gambling and drinking, Mr. Watanabe was even banned from visiting specific casinos such as the Wynn Las Vegas casino. By the year 2007, Mr. Watanabe had already lost up to $127 million in the Caesar's Palace casino, where he had gambled while highly intoxicated (Berzon, 2009). While Mr. Watanabe engaged in gambling voluntarily without any coercion, the Casino was found guilty of facilitating his compulsive gambling behavior by providing alcohol and substances to him while gambling, with the aim of incapacitating him from making sound decisions.

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According to the law, incapacitation through voluntary can either lead one to either escape or face contractual obligations using incapacity as defense. Through the incapacity defense, defendants may be accorded minimal or full responsibility for the crimes committed while being intoxicated. The rationale behind incapacity defense, especially in cases involving intoxication, is that if the defendant committed the said crimes when he/she was intoxicated, then the defendant could not have had the intentions to commit the crimes, and therefore the defendant cannot be convicted of such crimes (Berzon, 2009). However, the defendants must prove to the court beyond doubt that he/she was highly intoxicated and that he/she did not have any prior intentions to commit the crimes for them not to be convicted. In the cases of voluntary intoxication, while the defendants could have voluntarily decided to indulge in alcohol and substances, there is a chance that they could have or not have intentions to commit a crime.

A contract with an intoxicated person can be considered valid or voidable depending on the circumstances surrounding the time when the contract was signed. Supposing that the person was overly intoxicated and was therefore mentally incapacitated at the time of entering into the contract, then the contract may be termed as voidable. While the person could have voluntarily intoxicated themselves, they may not be in the right state of mind to understand the terms and conditions involved in the contract at the time and, therefore, cannot be held liable for any crime relating to the agreement (Berzon, 2009). The defendant must, however, prove that he/she was mentally incapacitated and could not understand the obligations of the contract. On the other hand, an agreement with an intoxicated person is considered to be valid if the drunk person was mentally capable of understanding the legal obligations of the contract or if they had plenty of time with the contractor if the person involved a third person at the time of entering the contract.

Whether a party to the contract was aware that the other party was incapacitated matters a lot, especially in the incapacitated defense. If one party was directly involved in luring or enticing the other party to indulge in mentally disabling activities such as overindulgence in alcohol and drugs, then the contract might be termed as voidable, and therefore the defendant may not be held liable for any crime relating to the agreement (Berzon, 2009). Moreover, before entering into a contract, it is crucial that both parties ascertain whether either of them is intoxicated or not. If a party appears to be drunk, then the contract should not be signed at that time and should instead be postponed to a later time when all parties are equally sober. An agreement signed with one party being intoxicated while the other being sober is likely to be voidable. Further, it is essential that parties have plenty of time interacting with the contracts independently and involve third parties who would then facilitate further understanding of the contractual obligations. Entering into a contract when both parties have had adequate time and have engaged third parties often makes the contract valid.

The Casino demonstrated a high level of negligence in the case of Mr. Watanabe by over-serving alcohol and other substances to him, which could have adverse effects on his health and can even be fatal. Caesar's Palace management instructed the employees to ensure that Mr. Watanabe gets what he asks. The employees were ordered to make special orders for Watanabe and keep a record of how much he spends. By doing so, the Casino portrayed negligence on the importance of responsible indulgence into alcohol and substances, and instead only cared about their profits (Berzon, 2009). Disregarding their actions of facilitating Mr. Watanabe to continue with his gambling addiction and overindulgence, Caesar's Palace took Mr. Watanabe to court over bad cheques.

Mr. Watanabe was successfully able to use the incapacity defense by claiming that he was addicted to gambling and that the Caesar's Palace was well aware of his addicting problem, and instead of intervening to help, the Caesar' Palace exploited him and made sure that he was constantly intoxicated and that he continued with his gambling behavior. The court was unable to defend themselves and was then ordered to pay a fine of $225,000 for their negligence and conduct towards Mr. Watanabe (Berzon, 2009).

Conclusion

In the case of Mr. Terrance Watanabe, the gambler who blew $127 million, even though Mr. Watanabe was voluntarily intoxicated, he was able to prove that he did not have the intention to commit the crime. It was revealed that Caesar's Palace, the Casino, where Mr. Watanabe resided and gambled, had the intent to ensure that Watanabe was intoxicated at all times. Caesar's Palace had incidentally made arrangements to avail alcohol to Mr. Watanabe regardless of whether he was intoxicated or not and had even posted a picture of Mr. Watanabe to an employee's only cite and informed them that they should not deny Watanabe anything he wants, including alcohol and other substances (Berzon, 2009). As a result of Caesar's Palace intents, Mr. Watanabe was not convicted of any crime and therefore did not have to pay anything to the Casino or anyone else. Instead, the Casino was ordered to pay a fine of $225,000 (Berzon, 2009).

References

Berzon, A. (2009). The gambler who blew $127 million. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125996714714577317