Hall v. United States

48 F.2d 66, 1931 U.S. App. LEXIS 4165
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMarch 23, 1931
DocketNo. 6342
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 48 F.2d 66 (Hall v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hall v. United States, 48 F.2d 66, 1931 U.S. App. LEXIS 4165 (9th Cir. 1931).

Opinion

SAWTELLE, Circuit Judge.

This is the second appeal in this .case. See 41 P. (2d) 54.

Appellant was convicted upon three separate counts of an information charging: First, the unlawful possession of approximately 200 gallons of intoxicating liquor; second, the unlawful possession of certain property designed for the manufacture of intoxicating liquor; third, the maintenance of, a common nuisance.

The government introduced evidence tending to prove that on or about July-15, 1928, George C. Ruffner, sheriff of Yavapai county, Arizona, had a conversation with appellant, Joe Hall, in which conversation Ruffner, among other things, said, “Well, now Joe, as far as this pool-hall business is concerned that is legitimate business, we issue licenses for that, but as for this other stuff, this making whiskey, I am going to make you [67]*67quit,” to which Hall replied, “Well, now, George, I want to tell you something, * ” ’* I have got 350 gallons o£ damned good whiskey and I am going to sell it”; that a short time after this conversation Ruffner secured a search warrant from the superior court of said county to search Hall’s residence and pool hall; that as a result of such search Ruffner found and seized the liquor referred to, as well as a gas burner, pressure tanks, condensers, a copper boiler, a cooling tank, and other property used and useful in the manufacture of intoxicating liquor; that all the above-described property is set forth in the return on the search warrant; that, at the time Ruffner secured the search warrant and proceeded to appellant’s premises to make the search, Ruffner expected to find appellant either making or selling whisky, violations of the state prohibition law, and that he did not conceive the idea of turning the property over to the federal officers until after he had made the search and seizure and realized that appellant could only be prosecuted for the unlawful possession of the seized property, which is not-a violation of the state prohibition law.

This court held on the former appeal that “the affidavit for the search warrant was on information and belief, and was clearly insufficient under the federal statutes. '* * * The provision of the fourth amendment to the Constitution, forbidding unreasonable searches and seizures, refers to governmental action, and is not invaded by unlawful acts of individuals or of municipal or state officers, in which the government has no part. Burdeau v. McDowell, 256 U. S. 465, 41 S. Ct. 574, 65 L. Ed. 1048, 13 A. L. R. 1159. But evidence obtained through wrongful searches and seizures by state officers who are co-operating with federal officers must be excluded. Byars v. United States [273 U. S. 28, 47 S. Ct. 248, 71 L. Ed. 520], supra; Gambino v. United States, 275 U. S. 310, 314, 48 S. Ct. 137, 52 A. L. R. 1381, 72 L. Ed. 293. The latter case went one step further and held that where the search and seizure was made by state officers for the sole purpose of aiding in the prosecution of a federal offense, the testimony must be excluded, whether there was co-operation between state and federal officers at the time of the search and seizure or not.” Hall v. United States, supra.

The trial court, after hearing all the evidence, concluded that at the time the state officer made the search and seizure he had no intention of securing evidence for the government and was not acting in co-operation 'with government officers; hence overruled appellant’s motion to suppress the evidence. The evidence was sufficient to support the finding of the court in that regard. This disposes of the first assignment of error.

In this connection it might be well to consider assignment 8. It assigns as error the ruling of the court on appellant’s objection to the admission in evidence of the affidavit for the search warrant, the search warrant itself, and the return thereon containing an inventory of the property seized. The record discloses that same were offered mid admitted for the purpose of corroborating the testimony of the witness Ruffner, to show that the warrant was executed, and to identify the specific property that was seized under the warrant. In our opinion there was no error in admitting these documents. They were admissible not only as tending to corroborate the witness Ruffner’s testimony as to the kind and character of the property which he found and seized, but also as tending to prove that in making the search he acted upon his own initiative as a state officer in attempting to enforce a state statute, and that he was not acting in co-operation with any federal officer.

In his brief, counsel for appellant states that “argument is not offered on assignments 2, 3, 4, 7, and 11,” but he admits that said assignments were considered and disposed of by this court on the former appeal. This leaves for consideration assignments 5, 9,10, 12,13,14, and 15.

Assignment 5 is argued in connection with assignments 13, 14, and 15.

Assignments 9 and 10 allege that the “court erred in denying defendant’s motion for a directed verdict in favor of the defendant,” and that “the verdict of the jury is contrary to the law and to the evidence.” In support of these assignments, counsel for appellant contends that “without the evidence obtained under the void search warrant there was no evidence upon which a jury could legally arrive at a verdict of guilty and a directed verdict in favor of defendant should have been granted.” The bill of exceptions fails to state that it contains all the evidence produced on the trial; therefore the question whether there was any substantial evidence to justify a conviction is not before us for review. In the ease of Rasmussen v. United States (C. C. A.) 8 F.(2d) 948, 949, Judge Hunt, speaking for this court, said: “Defendants urge that the court erred in denying their motion for a directed verdict upon the [68]*68ground that the evidence was insufficient to sustain conviction. But as the bill of exceptions signed by the judge fails to show affirmatively or by inference that it contains all the testimony produced upon the trial, the question whether there was any substantial evidence to warrant a conviction is not before us for review. Oregon-American Lumber Co. v. Simpson [C. C. A.] 8 F.(2d) 946 (decided November 16, 1925). Obviously, the appellate court cannot say that the presumption in favor of the verdict has been overcome in that there is lack of evidence, unless all the testimony that was produced before the lower court is brought up for review. Meyer v. Everett Pulp & Paper Co., 193 F. 857, 113 C. C. A. 643; Goldfarb v. Keener (C. C. A.) 263 F. 357; Buessel v. United States, 258 F. 811, 170 C. C. A. 105; Taylor-Craig Corporation v. Hage, 69 F. 581, 16 C. C. A. 339; Greenspahn v. United States (C. C. A.) 298 F. 736.”

Assignment 12 is “that the court erred in various rulings in the trial of Court and cause, and in the admission and rejection of evidence.” Such a general assignment of error does not comply with the requirements of Rule 11 of this court, whieh reads in part as follows: “ * * * When the error alleged is to the admission or to the rejection of evidence, the assignment of errors shall quote the full substance of the evidence admitted or rejected.

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Bluebook (online)
48 F.2d 66, 1931 U.S. App. LEXIS 4165, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hall-v-united-states-ca9-1931.