People v. Grosofsky

165 P.2d 757, 73 Cal. App. 2d 15, 1946 Cal. App. LEXIS 799
California Court of Appeal·Decided February 8, 1946·No. Crim. 3935·Published·Cited by 12 cases

Opinion

SHINN, J.

Defendants were convicted in a court trial of the sale of gasoline ration stamps, in violation of section 543 of the Penal Code. Proceedings were suspended and each defendant was granted probation for a period of three *16 years, on condition that he serve 90 days in the county jail. They made motions for a new trial, which were denied, and they gave notice of appeal from the orders denying the motions “and from all proceedings theretofore had in the case.”

Defendants urge the following grounds for reversal of the orders: (1) Termination of gas rationing terminated the authority of the State to further prosecute the ease; (2) the state statute is unconstitutional, in that it interferes with the exclusive province of the United States Government; (3) the evidence shows that the defendants were entrapped, and (4) the judgment is contrary to the law and the evidence.

Under section 543 of the Penal Code, one who buys, sells, or otherwise acquires or transfers for a valuable consideration coupons, etc., issued by the United States Government or any agency thereof is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison or in the county jail or by fine, or by both fine and imprisonment. Section 2 of Statutes 1944, 4th Extra Session, chapter 42, which added chapter 9 entitled, “Offenses Against Rationing,” to title 13 of part I of the Penal Code, reads as follows: “The chapter of the Penal Code added by this act shall have no force or effect from and upon the termination of rationing programs pursuant to the laws of the United States of America.” Defendants say: “Since the gas rationing program terminated on or about August 15, 1945, the force and effect of the law terminated and this prosecution should, therefore, be dismissed.” The offense was committed August 11, 1944, and the information was filed in the same month—a year before the termination of gas rationing. The case of United States v. Chambers, 291 U.S. 217 [50 S.Ct. 434, 78 L.Ed. 763, 89 A.L.R. 1510], relied upon by defendants, did not decide the same question. The court there held only that the adoption of the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, repealing the 18th Amendment without a saving clause, restricted the legislative authority of Congress, and that sentence on a plea of guilty of violation of the National Prohibition Act by one defendant should be abated, and that the prosecution should be dismissed as to defendants awaiting trial. There can be no question as to the power of the Legislature to authorize the prosecution to final judgment of acts which were violations of rationing restrictions at the time of their commission, and to execute judgments of conviction. The Legislature has exercised this *17 power by enacting section 9608 of the Government Code, which authorizes prosecution in such cases unless the act terminating or suspending the law creating the criminal offense expressly declares a contrary intention. We are concerned here only with the expressed legislative intention, and we find nothing in the language of section 2 which expressly or by implication declares an intention that those who violate the laws governing rationing, prior to their becoming inoperative, should escape their just punishment. We are in accord with the holding of the court and the reasoning supporting the same in People v. McCord (1946), 72 Cal.App. 2d 223 [164 P.2d 50], in which the same point was decided contrary to the contentions of appellants herein.

The state statute is not unconstitutional as an interference with the exclusive powers or jurisdiction of the United States Government. People v. Kelly (1869), 38 Cal. 145 [99 Am.Dec. 360], relied upon by appellants, does not sustain their position. The court there said: “The same act may, in some instances, be an offense against the laws of both [the United States and the state], and it is only as an offense against the State laws that it can be punished by the state, in any event.” In that case the court was considering a charge of perjury based upon false swearing in a matter pending before the register of the United States Land Office. The statements quoted in the opinion from State v. Pike (1844), 15 N.H. 83, which defendants attribute to our Supreme Court, had to do with a charge of perjury in a bankruptcy proceeding. It was held in both cases that “the acts cannot be regarded as having been done under the sanction of the laws of this State, so as to subject the parties to punishment under those laws.” This is not true of the offense under consideration. It is comparable to the offense of counterfeiting, which is a state as well as federal offense, and may be punished under the state laws. (People v. White (1867), 34 Cal. 183.) The court there held that the state statute was not repugnant to the Constitution of the United States (art. I, § 8, subds. 5, 6) or the laws of Congress. People v. McDonnell (1889), 80 Cal. 285 [22 P. 190, 13 Am.St.Rep. 159], was another coTinterfeiting case. A pertinent statement of the court is the following (p. 292) : “The defendant here is not sought to be punished under any federal statute as such. He has been tried and convicted in a state court, under a state law having for its object prevention of the *18 passing to her citizens fraudulently, and to their damage, of counterfeit hank notes of a foreign bank.” It seems too clear for argument that a state has authority to protect the public morals and welfare of its citizens by prescribing punishment for black market operations.

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People v. Grosofsky, 165 P.2d 757, 73 Cal. App. 2d 15, 1946 Cal. App. LEXIS 799 (Cal. Ct. App. 1946).

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