City of Yankton v. Douglass

66 N.W. 923, 8 S.D. 440, 1896 S.D. LEXIS 43
South Dakota Supreme Court·Decided April 9, 1896·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinions

Corson, P. J.

Defendant was convicted, in justice court, for violating a city ordinance. Upon appeal to the circuit court, the action was tried anew, resulting in conviction and judgment, against him. He brings the case hqre for review upon writ of error.

It is contended that the -facts stated in the complaint do not constitute an offense under the ordinance alleged to have [442] been violated. Omitting the title, such complaint is as follows: “August Seibert, being by me duly sworn, on oath complains and charges that the defendant, Thomas Douglass, at the said city and county of Yankton, on the 17th day of September, A. D. 1893, with force and arms then and there did keep and maintain a tippling shop, a place where intoxicating liquors were sold to be used as a beverage, within the limits of the city of Yankton, state of South Dakota, against the peace and dignity of the said city of Yankton, and contrary to the form of the ordinance in such case made and provided; and prays that the said Thomas Douglass may be arrested and dealt with according to law.” The ordinance provides “that any person who, within the limits of this city, shall keep or maintain a tippling shop, or place where intoxicating liquors are sold to be used as a beverage, or shall sell any intoxicating liquors in any such tippling shop or place, shall upon conviction be fined in any sum not less than thirty (30) dollars, nor more than one hundred (100) dollars, and in addition thereto maybe imprisoned not to exceed thirty days. ” Under a special charter the city of Yankton has power “to restrain, prohibit and suppress tippling shops, billiard tables, ten pin alleys, houses of prostitution and other disorderly houses and practices, games and gambling houses, desecration of the Sabbath, commonly called Sunday, and all kinds of indecencies.” Such being its conceded authority, the ordinance must be construed with reference thereto. It cannot include what is not included in the charter. Under it the city may restrain, prohibit, and suppress tippling shops, but it is not authorized to restrain, prohibit or suppress the mere sale of intoxicating liquors. The term “tippling shop” has a well-defined legal meaning. It is a place in which liquors are sold in drams, or small quantities, and where men are accustomed to tipple. To tipple is to drink spiritous or strong drink habitually. Webst. Diet. A tippling shop is a building or room wherein intoxicating liquors are habitually sold to be drank upon the premises. Bish." St. [443] Crimes, § 1065; Black, Intox. Liq. § 20; And. Law Diet.; City of Emporia v. Volmer, 12 Kan. 622. We have found no well-considered definition of the term which does not include the element of drinking upon the premises. In so far as the ordinance attempts to prohibit the mere sale of intoxicating liquors, or the keeping of a place wherein such liquors are sold to be drank as a beverage elsewhere, we think it exceeds the authority of the charter, and is to that extent invalid. The clause, ‘ ‘a place where intoxicating liquors were sold to be used as a beverage, ” inserted in the complaint, not being authorized by the charter, and therefore not legally a part of the ordinance, cannot properly constitute a part of the complaint, and it will be treated as surplusage and disregarded. Without this allegation in the complaint, it is clearly sufficient. The term, “did keep and maintain a tippling shop,” sufficiently defines the offense charged, as the term “tippling shop,” as we have seen, has a well-understood and a well-defined meaning. Mr. Bishop, in his work on Statutory Crimes (Sec. 1065), speaking of the indictment in this class of cases, says: “The indictment is only required to charge, in the general words of the statute, if so its terms are duly covered, that, at a specified time and place, the defendant did keep a drinking house and tippling shop. ” The words “drinking house” add nothing to the charge, as a tippling shop includes a drinking house. In City of Emporia v. Volmer, 12 Kan. 622, a similar complaint was held good by the supreme court of Kansas.

It is further contended that the police justice erred in refusing to allow the defendant to challenge certain jurors peremptorily who were impaneled to try the case. But we do not deem it necessary to consider that question, for the reason that it is not properly before us. An appeal was taken from the justice court to the circuit court upon questions of both law and fact. In such cases no statement is made, as the case is tried anew in the circuit court. The error, if any was committed, could not have been reviewed by the circuit court and cannot [444] be reviewed by this court on writ of error. The proceedings to be taken in the two classes of appeals from a justice court are fully pointed out by Secs. 6129, 6131, 6136, 6177, 6178, Comp. Laws. See Coughran v. Wilson (S. D.) 63 N. W. 774.

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City of Yankton v. Douglass, 66 N.W. 923, 8 S.D. 440, 1896 S.D. LEXIS 43 (S.D. 1896).

66 N.W. 923 (City of Yankton v. Douglass) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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