Edmunds v. State, ex rel. Dedge

74 So. 965, 199 Ala. 555, 1917 Ala. LEXIS 215
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedApril 12, 1917
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 74 So. 965 (Edmunds v. State, ex rel. Dedge) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Edmunds v. State, ex rel. Dedge, 74 So. 965, 199 Ala. 555, 1917 Ala. LEXIS 215 (Ala. 1917).

Opinion

SOMERVILLE, J.

This is a proceeding for the condemnation and destruction of contraband liquors held in violation of the act approved September 25, 1915 (Sess. Acts 1915, p. 558), known as the Bonner Bill. The undisputed evidence shows that the liquors in question were prohibited liquors, and were held in quantities immensely in excess of the legal allowance, and were stored on premises not the-dwelling house of the claimant.

[557]*557On the.final hearing in the justice. £ourt, the appellant having appeared as claimant, there was a judgment of'forfeiture,. apd an appropriate order for..the.,public destruction of the liquors. On appeal to the circuit court there .was the same .judgment and order.. . . . .

It is contended by the appellant that the judgment appealed from is erroneous for the following reasons:

(1) The justice who issued the warrant was officially resident in beat 10 of Russell county, while the liquors seized under the warrant were in beat 1 in the city of Girard, not an adjoining beat, there being a qualified justice of the peace in beat 1, and hence this justice was without jurisdiction in the premises.

(2) The constable who executed the warrant and seized the liquors was officially resident in beat 10, there being a regular constable and sheriff in beat 1, where the liquors were seized.

(3) The liquors seized were of greater value than $100, and were therefore constitutionally beyond the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace.

(4) The warrant under which the liquors were seized was issued solely upon the affidavit of one Dedge, without any examination on oath of the affiant or the witness, or any taking of depositions showing the facts and circumstances tending to establish the complaint, as required by subdivision 3 of section 22 of the temperance act approved January 23, 1915 (Sess. Acts 1915, p. 18.)

(5) The said affidavit did not show any ground for issuing a search and seizure warrant as prescribed by paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of subdivision 6, § 22, of the temperance act.

(6) The warrant directed a search for and seizure of liquors on certain described premises, and,- search there being unsuccessful, the officer entered upon and seized these liquors on other premises not described in the affidavit or warrant.

(7) In so far as the temperance acts are applicable to liquors lawfully acquired in good faith before their enactment, confiscation thelreunder would be uncqnstitutional as depriving the claimant of his property without due process of law. '

These questions were raised by appropriate motions to quash, • by pleas in abatement and by requested instructions. Their predicates are all supported by the facts adduced in evidence, and the questions raised are questions of law on the evidence. All of these were ruled adversely to the claimant, and on request [558]*558in writing the general affirmative charge was given for the state.

(1) Before proceeding to a discussion of the several contentions of the claimant, it is desirable to observe the motive and status of this proceeding. Though a proceeding for search and seizure is not “in any exact sense a criminal prosecution,” as observed in Toole v. State, 170 Ala. 41, 54 South. 195, yet it is strictly penal in .its character, and substantially resembles a criminal prosecution; the only practical differences being that it acts in rem instead of in personam, and is conclusive against the whole world. Like a bastardy proceeding (Paulk v. State, 52 Ala. 427; Shows v. Solomon, 91 Ala. 890, 8 South. 713), it is sui generis, and may be properly designated as quasi criminal (Woolen & Thornt. Int. Liq. § 600; Black on Intox. Liq. § 352). Certainly it is not a suit according to the course of the common law, and would not, either in ordinary or technical language, be classed among civil actions.—State v. One Bottle of Brandy, 43 Vt. 297.

We now consider the claimant’s contention seriatim.

(2) 1. This contention is based on the theory that this proceeding is a civil suit, and is governed by section 4648 of the Code, as amended by the act of August 5, 1915 (Acts 1915, p. 266), which declares that: “Unless otherwise provided, no person can be sued out of the precinct of his evidence, or that in which the debt was created, or the cause of action arose.”

For the purpose of venu'e and jurisdiction, this proceeding is unquestionably to be regarded as criminal.—Com. v. Intox. Liq., 13 Allen (Mass.) 561. And in criminal matters a justice’s process reaches everywhere within the county.—Ex parte Davis, 95 Ala. 9, 13, 11 South. 308; Code, § 6733. But, if it were not a criminal proceeding, it was long ago settled that the venue statute referred to is confined to suits commenced by summons, and has no reference to a proceeding in rem.—Atkinson v. Wiggins, 69 Ala. 190. The search and seizure act itself provides (Acts 1915, p. 18) that “the warrant may be issued by justices of the peace,” without restriction as to venue. The warrant in question was properly issued by the justice of beat 10.

(3) 2. One of the duties of a constable is “to execute and return all summons, executions, and other process, to him directed by any lawful authority.” — Code, § 3329. The act (section 22, subd. 4) provides that the warrant shall be “directed [559]*559to the sheriff or to any constable of the county.” Its execution in this case by the constable of beat 10 was unquestionably lawfully authority. If authority for this conclusion were needed, it can be found in Noles v. State, 24 Ala. 672, 695.

(4) 3. Since the proceeding is criminal in its nature, the jurisdiction of the justice, though limited to $100 in ordinary civil cases (Const. § 168), is not affected by the value of the liquors to be seized and condemned (Black on Intox. Liq. § 365, citing State v. Arlen, 71 Iowa 216, 32 N. W. 267.)

(5. 6) 4. Although, following the provisions common to all search warrants and preliminary proceedings, the act requires that “the magistrate before issuing a warrant must examine the complainant on oath, and any other witnesses he may produce, * * * and take their deposition in writing, and cause the same to be subscribed by the person or persons making them” (section 22, subd. 3), the omission of these requirements has never been regarded as vitiative of the warrant when it is issued upon a sufficient affidavit.

“The ascertainment of probable cause for the issue of the writ involved the exercise of the judicial function. Having acquired and exercised jurisdiction in the premises by taking the affidavit of a person, and having issued the warrant substantially as required by the statute, the weight of the evidence to establish probable cause could not be made the subject of inquiry, nor could the judgment in that regard of the issuing magistrate be made the subject of review on the trial of the cause.”—Toole v. State, 170 Ala. 41, 52, 54 South. 195, 198; Cheek v. State, 3 Ala. App. 646, 57 South. 108; Salley v. State, 9 Ala. App. 82, 64 South. 185.

(7)

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Bluebook (online)
74 So. 965, 199 Ala. 555, 1917 Ala. LEXIS 215, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/edmunds-v-state-ex-rel-dedge-ala-1917.