Arrington v. Commonwealth

10 L.R.A. 242, 12 S.E. 224, 87 Va. 96, 1890 Va. LEXIS 97
Supreme Court of Virginia·Decided November 20, 1890·Published·Cited by 34 cases

Opinion

Lewis, P.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

The plaintiff in error was indicted in the corporation court of the city of Alexandria for that, “ on a certain day, between the 13tb day of September, 1889, and the 12th day of September, 1890, in the said city, she did unlawfully sell wine, ardent spirits, and malt liquors, without having first obtained [97] a license therefor required by law.” The indictment was drawn under the statute which provides that no person shall, within the limits of this State, sell or offer to sell, by sample, or representation, or otherwise, wine, ardent spirits, malt liquor, or any mixture thereof, either by wholesale, retail, or to be drunk at the place where sold, or in any other way, without first having obtained a license therefor. .Acts 1889-90, p. 242, sec. 1.

The defendant demurred to the indictment, but the demurrer was overruled. She thereupon pleaded not guilty, and also filed a special plea of former conviction, to which the Commonwealth replied generally. And the case having been submitted to a jury, she was found guilty, and afterwards sentenced, in accordance with the verdict, to pay a fine of one hundred dollars.

3. The first point made is that the demurrer to the indictment ought to have been sustained; and this position is well taken. The indictment is bad, first, because it does not state any definite place in the city at which the alleged sale was made; and, secondly, because it does not say in what way the sale was made—whether by wholesale or retail, or whether the liquor was sold to be drunk at the place where sold or otherwise. Head’s case, 11 Gratt., 819; Boyle’s case, 14 Id., 674; Young’s case, 15 Id., 664.

It was held in Head’s case, that in an indictment for selling liquor by retail the defendant should be apprised of the place alleged, so that he may be prepared with proof, if any he have, to show that the place of sale and that of drinking are not the same. He may be licensed, said the court, to sell at one place within the county, and relying on his license, and his consciousness of having sold at no other place, would go confidently to trial, yet upon the trial, under the general charge of selling in the county, proof may be offered to show a sale at any place within the county. This proof he could not anticipate, yet if he had known it, he might have prepared himself to [98] repel it by testimony. And the same rule applies to an indictment for selling liquor by wholesale or otherwise, inasmuch as by section 549 of the Code it is provided that a license to sell liquor, unless qtherwise expressly authorized, shall designate a specified house or other definite place at which the business is to be carried on. And in Boyle’s case, it was held that the indictment must state the mode in which the sale was made, as inference can never supply a total want of averment in regard to an essential part of an offence.

This is merely stating in different form the elementary principle of criminal pleading laid down in Head’s case, namely, that an indictment must always allege the offence with such fullness and precision, that the defendant may know for what he is prosecuted, and thereby be enabled to prepare his defence; and further, that the conviction or acquittal may be pleaded in bar of any future prosecution for the same offence; a rule not affected by the statute, now brought into section 4011 of the Code, which provides that “ no exception shall be allowed for any defect or want of form in any presentment, indictment, or information for an offence against the revenue laws, but that “the court shall give judgment thereon according to the very right of the case.” Young’s case, supra.

The indictment in the present case is not in conformity with this rule. It does not state with the requisite precision the place at which the alleged sale was made, nor does it set out the offence with such certainty as to enable the defendant to intelligently prepare her defence. It is simply charged, in general terms, a sale without a license in the city of Alexandria, thus omitting to state an essential ingredient of any of-fence described in the statute. To constitute the offence of selling liquor without a license, under the section of the statute upon which the indictment is drawn, the sale must be either by wholesale or retail, or to be drunk where sold, for although the statute.adds the words “or in any other way,” there is, in reality, no other way known to the law in which a' [99] licensed sale of liquor can be made; and the rule is a fundamental one in criminal procedure, that an indictment upon a statute must state all the circumstances which constitute the definition of the offence in the act. It is generally sufficient to charge the offence in the language of the act, though not always, as where generic terms are used in the statute, in which case the indictment must state the species—it must descend to particulars. 1 Arch. Crim. Pr. and Pl., 291; Boyd’s case, 77 Va., 52; United States v. Hess, 124 U. S., 483.

As to the general allegation of time in the indictment, to which objection is made, we are of opinion that that is sufficient. Time is not of the essence of the offence, and the statute is express that “ no indictment or other accusation shall be quashed or deemed invalid for omitting * * * to state, or stating imperfectly, the time at which the offence was committed, when time is not the essence of the offence.” Code, sec. 3999; Savage's case, 84 Va., 619.

It is also objected that the indictment is defective, because it does not state whether the alleged sale was made by sample, representation, or otherwise. But this, not being an essential ingredient of the offence, need not have been stated.

2. The next assignment of error relates to the ruling of the ' court in excluding the record of a former prosecution in the same court against the defendant for selling liquor on Sunday, which the defendant offered in evidence in support of the plea of autrefois convict.

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Arrington v. Commonwealth, 10 L.R.A. 242, 12 S.E. 224, 87 Va. 96, 1890 Va. LEXIS 97 (Va. 1890).

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