John Gund Brewing Co. v. United States

204 F. 17, 122 C.C.A. 331, 1913 U.S. App. LEXIS 1250
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedMarch 3, 1913
DocketNos. 3,854, 3,855
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 204 F. 17 (John Gund Brewing Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
John Gund Brewing Co. v. United States, 204 F. 17, 122 C.C.A. 331, 1913 U.S. App. LEXIS 1250 (8th Cir. 1913).

Opinion

TRIEBER, District Judge

(after stating the facts as above). It is earnestly urged that there was no authority for the process issued in this case directed to the marshal of another district, and that the service and return are unauthorized, and that therefore the court erred in overruling the defendant’s motion to quash them.

[1] The only statute of the United States relating to the arrest of a person charged with a criminal offense in a district other than that in which the indictment has been returned is found in section 1014, R. S. (U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 716), but that clearly cannot apply to a corporation, for a corporation cannot be arrested, cannot be held to bail for its appearance, and no order for its removal to the other district can be made, as the latter can only be made when the defendant is imprisoned. Unless there is some other law providing for the issuance of some writ which will secure the attendance of such a corporation in the court in which the indictment has been returned, foreign corporations, and for that matter all corporations, would be entirely immune from punishment under the statutes of the United States, for there is no statute of the United States which specifically provides for the kind of process necessary to bring a corporation into court, to answer an indictment.

[2] But section 716, R. S. (U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 1)80), grants the courts of the United States power to issue all writs not specifically provided for by the statute which may be necessary for the exercise bf their respective jurisdictions and agreeable to the usages and principles of law. This statute was no doubt enacted by Congress in order to meet cases of this nature when there is no specific process provided by statute. In re Chetwood, 165 U. S. 443, 461, 17 Sup. Ct. 385, 41 L. Ed. 782; United States v. John Kelso Co. (D. C.) 86 Fed. 304; United States v. Standard Oil Co. (D. C.) 154 Fed. 728; United [21]*21States v. Virginia-Carolina Chem. Co. (C. C.) 163 Fed. 67; Thompson on Corporations, § 5651.

[3] As the only punishment which can be inflicted upon a corporation is a fine (United States v. Union Supply Co., 215 U. S. 50, 30 Sup. Ct. 15, 54 L. Ed. 87), a criminal proceeding against a corporation is in effect no more than an action for the recovery of a penalty, with this difference, that under the sixth amendment to the Constitution the trial must be had in the district where the crime has been committed. The court committed no error in overruling the motion to quash the process.

[4] The demurrer to the indictment in No. 3,854 charging the defendant with engaging in the business of a wholesale dealer in malt liquors without having paid the tax required by law is based upon the fact that the indictment left out the word “special” before the word “tax,” as section 3242, R. S. (U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 2094), makes it an offense for. a person to engage in that business “without having paid the special tax as required by law.” While no doubt it is the better practice in drawing indictments for statutory offenses for the pleader to follow the language of the statute literally or as closely as possible, still, if the omission of a word can in no manner be prejudicial to the defendant by failing to inform him of the crime he is charged with so as to enable him to prepare a proper defense, or prevent him in case of a later indictment for the same offense to plead former jeopardy and in view of the fact that this is the only tax which under the laws of the United States such a dealer is required to pay, the omission is not prejudicial. The strictness with which indictments or informations were at one time construed by the courts, which frequently operated to defeat the ends of justice, no longer prevails, and technical objections not prejudicial are not regarded with as much favor as they were at one time. Breese v. United States, 226 U. S. 1, 33 Sup. Ct. 1, 57 L. Ed.-. Act June 1, 1872, c. 255, 17 Stat. 198, digested as section 1025 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 720), is clearly applicable to a plea of this kind. The demurrer was properly overruled.

[5] The demurrer to the conspiracy indictment, No. 3,855, should have.been sustained, as the indictment is bad for duplicity. It charges the defendant in one count with a conspiracy to commit two distinct offenses, one “to evade the payment of the internal revenue tax required to be paid by the laws of the United States by persons engaged in such business,” and to violate section 239 of the Penal Code. These are two distinct offenses, with different penalties for violations thereof. This has never been permitted. Without citing the many cases on this subject, the following will be found to throw light on that question: State v. Huffman, 136 Mo. 58, 37 S. W. 797; Wood v. State, 47 Tex. Cr. R. 543, 84 S. W. 1058; State v. Dennison, 60 Neb. 192, 82 N. W. 628; State v. Ashpole, 127 Iowa, 680, 104 N. W. 281; State v. Wester, 67 Kan. 810, 74 Pac. 239; State v. Mattison, 13 N. D. 391, 100 N. W. 1091; United States v. Smith (D. C.) 152 Fed. 542, 545.

[22]*22[6] The government, to sustain its charge in No. 3,854 that the defendant had engaged in the business of a wholesale dealer in malt liquors in the town of Dickinson, Stark county, N. D., introduced evidence tending to show that the defendant had a branch establishment for the sale of malt liquors at Moorhead in the state of Minnesota, which was in charge of a general agent; that it had a large stock of liquors on hand which was constantly replenished to make up the stock according to the sales, which he was authorized to make; that a person by the name of Dally, who resided at Dickinson, N. D., would send orders to the defendant’s agent at Moorhead, Minn., for malt liquors with directions to send them with bill of lading to shipper’s order with draft for the purchase price attached, which bills of lading were to be turned over upon payment of the draft and thus enable Dally to secure the liquors; that the drafts would be drawn on fictitious persons and would be taken up by Dally, and the bills of lading indorsed in blank would enable Dally or any person to whom he delivered them to obtain the liquors from the carrier. There was evidence tending to show that the agent of the defendant at Moorhead knew that these drafts were drawn on fictitious persons; his dealings being solely with Dally. The defendant introduced in evidence a circular letter which it had sent to all of its agents, including the agent at Moorhead, directing them to place marks on the outside of all packages containing liquors, showing the name of the consignee, the nature of the contents and the quantity contained therein; that shipments could be made subject to either “straight” or “order” bills of lading, but when “straight” bills of lading were issued the agents of the carriers are prohibited from stamping or indorsing waybills to the effect that shipments will be delivered only on surrender of bills of lading. The circular also contained the following instructions:

‘"We expect you to live up to these instructions strictly. Under no consideration are you to make shipments except on bona fide orders only. The package and shipping receipt or bill of lading covering must also show name of the bona fide consignee.

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Bluebook (online)
204 F. 17, 122 C.C.A. 331, 1913 U.S. App. LEXIS 1250, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/john-gund-brewing-co-v-united-states-ca8-1913.