Magris v. City of Canton

22 Ohio N.P. (n.s.) 312, 30 Ohio Dec. 308, 1919 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 47
CourtStark County Court of Common Pleas
DecidedNovember 4, 1919
StatusPublished

This text of 22 Ohio N.P. (n.s.) 312 (Magris v. City of Canton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Stark County Court of Common Pleas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Magris v. City of Canton, 22 Ohio N.P. (n.s.) 312, 30 Ohio Dec. 308, 1919 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 47 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1919).

Opinion

Day, J.

This is a proceeding in error, brought to reverse the criminal court of the city of Canton, The plaintiff in error was charged in the court below with a violation of Section 3 of Ordinance 4059 of the city of Canton, said section providing that—

“Whoever, in the city of Canton, permits a game to be played for gain upon or by means of a device or machine in his house or in an outhouse, booth, arbor or erection, of which he has the care or possession, shall be fined not less than $25, nor more than $200.”

The affidavit filed in the court below is in the following language :

“That on or about the 26th day of August, 1919, at the city of Canton, in the said county of Stark, one Nick Magris did unlawfully permit a certain game, the name of which is to affiant unknown, to be played for gain, to-wit, money, by means of a certain gaming device, to-wit, a deck of cards, by certain persons, whose names are to affiant unknown, in a certain house and erection of him, the said Nick Magris, the said house and erection being then and there in the care and possession of him, the said Nick Magris, contrary to the form of an ordinance of said city in such cases made and provided, and further deponent says not.”

The defendant plead not guilty and trial was had before the criminal court and the defendant found guilty. It is to reverse [314]*314this finding that this proceeding is prosecuted. The usual methods of saving the questions complained of were pursued in the court below, by objection to the introduction of testimony, a motion to quash the affidavit and a motion at the close of the city’s case, as well as at the close of the entire testimony, and a motion for new trial, all of which were held adversely to the plaintiff; in error.

The errors complained of may be grouped under two general heads; first, is the judgment of the court below against the manifest weight of the evidence; and second, did the court err in refusing to quash the affidavit, “for the reason that the same is invalid and void because the city council of the city of Canton, Ohio, has no power to enact a law, except such as is given it by statute, and that it has exceeded its authority under Section 3665 in this, to-wit: that it has placed a penalty on said offense greater than fifty dollars; and second, in this, to-wit: that the offense in said ordinance is an offense under the state law, and one which the city council has no authority to enact.”

A brief review of the testimony upon which the city relied for conviction as to so much of the affidavit as charges the defendant below with permitting games, etc., by divers persons, whose names are to affiant unknown, “in his certain house and erection of him, the said Nick Magris, the said house and erection being then and there in the care and possession of him, the said Nick Magris,” raises the question: did the testimony introduced by the city in the court below justify a finding of guilty? Or, in other words, was the judgment of the court below, finding him guilty, against the manifest weight of the evidence upon that feature of the affidavit?

The rule with reference to the duties of a reviewing court reversing a lower court, or a court setting aside the verdict of a jury upon the question of the weight of the evidence, in Ohio may be stated as follows:

' Commenting on the conflict of evidence in a criminal ease, Judge Peck in Breece v. State, 12 O. S., 146-156, said:

“The jury who try a cause and the court before which it is tried, have much better opportunities to determine the credibility and effect of the testimony, and we ought therefore, to hesitate before disturbing a verdict rendered by a jury and eon-[315]*315firmed, by a court, possessing such advantages, merely because there is an apparent conflict in the testimony.1 ’

And the court in that case, held that—

“A judgment will not be reversed because the verdict is contrary to the evidence, unless it is manifestly so, and the reviewing court will always hesitate to do so where the doubts of its propriety arise out of a conflict in oral testimony.”
“Applying the rule of law above stated to the evidence presented in this case, we find no sufficient ground to warrant us interfering with the verdict rendered.”

The Court of Appeals of this district laid down the rule for disturbing verdicts in a criminal case, in Andy v. The State, found in 19 C. C. (N. S.), 93 and 94:

“And as a reviewing court, keeping in mind the rule that the verdict of the jury should not be set aside unless it is manifestly against the weight of the evidence, we are of the opinion that the record presents a case which does not require this court to interfere with the verdict of the jury on the ground stated. ’ ’

The court trying the case has the very great advantage of seeing the witnesses, hearing their testimony, observing their demeanor and reaching a conclusion upon not only the spoken words of the witness, but his manner of testifying, his appearance and his general conduct, all of which aid the court in reaching a conclusion as to what weight should be given his testimony.

Now, the rule in a criminal case is that the evidence should satisfy the mind of the trier with the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt before a judgment or verdict so finding could be lawfully rendered. The Supreme Court of Ohio has held that in human affairs absolute certainty is not always attainable and from the nature of things, reaosnable certainty is all that can be attained upon many subjects. When a full and fair consideration of all the evidence satisfies the mind to a reasonable certainty of the guilt of the accused, it is the duty of the court to so find. Of course, whenever there is only a strong probability of the guilt of the accused, it is the duty of the court to acquit.

Now, as a reviewing court, how stands this record? Are we justified in finding that the judgment of the court below was manifestly against the weight of the evidence? The affidavit [316]*316charged the man with permitting this gambling in a certain house of which he had the care and possession. The record discloses that two of the city's witnesses testified that the defendant said to them that he was the proprietor of the premises. One of them puts it in a somewhat qualified way by saying that that was his understanding, etc., that the defendant was the proprietor in charge. Corroborative of this was the fact that the defendant was in the actual physical possession of the ground floor of the building and was a member of the organization to which he claims to have sublet these premises, that he was in the physical presence of those who were engaged in. gambling and on the premises wherein this gambling was being carried on. He claims to have sold these fixtures and sublet any rights that he had in these premises and that a club, of which he was a member but not an officer, was conducting this card room.

Now, it appears that he had a chattel mortgage upon these premises by his own story, and a condition in that chattel mortgage justified him in taking physical possession at any time that he found his security in danger. He had more than the interest of a member of the club; he had a possessory right which he could enforce to absolute possession whenever he regarded his security in danger.

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24 N.E. 680 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1890)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
22 Ohio N.P. (n.s.) 312, 30 Ohio Dec. 308, 1919 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 47, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/magris-v-city-of-canton-ohctcomplstark-1919.