People v. Spagnoli

208 P. 185, 58 Cal. App. 154, 1922 Cal. App. LEXIS 317
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 19, 1922
DocketCrim. No. 624.
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 208 P. 185 (People v. Spagnoli) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Spagnoli, 208 P. 185, 58 Cal. App. 154, 1922 Cal. App. LEXIS 317 (Cal. Ct. App. 1922).

Opinion

BURNETT, J.

The defendant was convicted of the violation of a county ordinance, commonly known as the *156 “Little Volstead Act,” and he appeals from the judgment and the order denying his motion for a new trial. The charging part of the information is as follows:

“The said named defendant did on or about the 8th day of August, 1921, at and in the said county of Tuolumne, state of California, then and there willfully and unlawfully and in violation of ordinance No. 107 of the county of Tuolumne, being an ordinance prohibiting the sale, manufacture or unlawful possession or transportation of intoxicating liquors and providing penalties for violation thereof, passed by the board of supervisors of Tuolumne county on the 15th day of March, 1921, manufacture certain intoxicating liquor, to-wit: wine and jackass brandy then and there containing one-half of one per cent or more of alcohol by volume, which was then and there fit for use for beverage purposes.”
Section 1 of said ordinance provides: “When used in this ordinance the word ‘liquor’ or the phrase ‘intoxicating liquor’ shall be construed to include alcohol, brandy, whisky, rum, gin, beer, ale, porter and wine, and in addition thereto any spirituous, vinous, malt, or fermented liquor, liquids and compounds, whether medicated, proprietary, patented or not and by whatever name called, containing one-half of one per centum or more of alcohol by volume which are fit for use for beverage purposes.”
In section 2 we find this provision: “No person shall manufacture, sell, barter, transport, import, export, deliver, furnish or possess any intoxicating liquor except as authorized in this ordinance, and all the provisions of this ordinance, shall be liberally construed to the end that the use of intoxicating liquor as a beverage may be prevented.”

A large part of the brief of appellant is devoted to a learned discussion of the action of the trial court in denying his motion to order the return to him of the appliances for the manufacture of liquor and the liquor itself, which were taken from his possession under a search-warrant, and in permitting these objects to be introduced in evidence. It is claimed with substantial reason that the proceedings which resulted in the seizure of the property were not in accordance with the requirements of the statute, and a formidable array of authorities is presented to the effect that what is thus obtained should not be received *157 in evidence. We are, however, spared the duty of following the argument since the question has been unequivocally decided against appellant’s contention by the supreme court of this state in People v. Mayen, 188 Cal. 237 [24 A. L. R. 1383, 205 Pac. 435]. Therein it was squarely held that where competent evidence is produced at a trial the court will not stop to inquire from what source it came or the means by which it was obtained, and that the action of the trial court in denying an application of the defendant for the return of papers or other property claimed to have been illegally taken from him and later used as evidence over his objection will not be reviewed on appeal from a judgment of conviction of a criminal charge.

The next objection of appellant is that the court erred in refusing to give the following proposed instruction:

“The manufacture of intoxicating liquor is not unlawful as the law provides for the manufacture of intoxicating liquor for medicinal and sacramental purposes, and it therefore must be made in order to be sold for either of said purposes. The manufacture of intoxicating liquor for beverage purposes is unlawful and it is for you to determine from the evidence in this case whether any intoxicating liquor was manufactured by defendant and you must find from the evidence and believe beyond all reasonable doubt that the defendant manufactured intoxicating liquor for beverage purposes before a verdict of guilty can be found against the defendant.”

Appellant claims that the refusal of the instruction was error, “unless Ordinance No. 107, under which this action is prosecuted does make it a crime to manufacture intoxicating liquor. The ordinance so provides but in so doing we say this ordinance is void.” The declaration of appellant as to the scope of said ordinance is entirely too sweeping. It does not prohibit the manufacture of liquor for all purposes. Indeed, certain permissible uses are designated for the manufacture of liquor fit for beverage purposes. And it may be said that, in view of the various sections of the ordinance, considering its declaration that its provisions are to be liberally construed “to the end that the use of intoxicating liquor as a beverage may be prevented,” it is not an unreasonable construction to hold that *158 the manufacture for such purpose is what was intended to be prohibited. If so, the proposed instruction embodied a correct principle of law and might well have been given. The attorney-general, however, thinks that “it was covered by the two instructions which appear on page 25, Transcript.” As to this he is clearly in error. The first of the instructions to which he thus refers simply states in the language of the information the offense charged against the defendant, and the second, the familiar principle that the burden is upon the prosecution to establish beyond a reasonable doubt every material allegation constituting the offense. But these do not cover the point, for the reason that the information does not allege that the liquor was manufactured for beverage purposes.

However, upon the theory that such was the intention of the board of supervisors and that the proposed instruction, abstractly considered, involves a sound legal principle, the refusal of the court to give it was entirely without prejudice. This follows for the reason that there was no evidence whatever that the liquor was manufactured for any purpose other than for its use as a beverage. All the evidence upon the subject shows that it was used as a beverage and such use justifies the inference that it was manufactured for that purpose, and no other inference is possible. The instruction, therefore, was not applicable to any theory supportable by the evidence and hence it could have been of no assistance to the jury if it had been given.

As to the information, if we concede that it was defective in the respect indicated, appellant suffered no prejudice thereby. Indeed, he urged no such ground at the trial and the evidence of the use of the liquor was received without objection as though such purpose had been alleged. In this connection it is sufficient to refer to People v. Johnson, 57 Cal. App. 271 [207 Pac. 257], and People v. Bonfanti, 40 Cal. App. 614 [181 Pac. 80],

Moreover, it is clear that the ordinance prohibits the manufacture of the liquor except for certain purposes therein enumerated. The exceptions are no part of the definition of the offense, and hence they need not be negatived in the information, it being sufficient to follow the general language of the ordinance condemning the manufacture *159 of said liquor.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

People v. Fuentes
224 Cal. App. 3d 1041 (California Court of Appeal, 1990)
People v. Faber
77 P.2d 921 (California Court of Appeal, 1938)
State v. Snyder
227 P. 613 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1924)
Hall v. Commonwealth
121 S.E. 154 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1924)
People v. Ross
212 P. 627 (California Court of Appeal, 1922)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
208 P. 185, 58 Cal. App. 154, 1922 Cal. App. LEXIS 317, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-spagnoli-calctapp-1922.