Ryan v. State

92 N.E. 340, 174 Ind. 468, 1910 Ind. LEXIS 131
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 1, 1910
DocketN. 21,606
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 92 N.E. 340 (Ryan v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ryan v. State, 92 N.E. 340, 174 Ind. 468, 1910 Ind. LEXIS 131 (Ind. 1910).

Opinion

Monks, C. J.

Appellant, a druggist, was tried and convicted of the offense of selling one quart of whisky in violation of law.

The only error assigned and not waived calls in question the action of the court in overruling appellant’s motion for a new trial. The causes assigned for a new trial are (1) “the finding of tho court is contrary to law,” and (2) “the finding of the court is not sustained by sufficient evidence. ’ ’

It is admitted that appellant is a druggist and sold one quart of whisky to the person named in the affidavit, but it [470]*470is claimed that the provisions of §8352 Burns 1908, Acts 1907 p. 689, §2, as to “applications,” were complied with, and therefore the sale was lawful.

Appellant further insists that ‘ a sale of intoxicating liquor made by a druggist in good faith and for medicinal purposes, with reasonable caution, is not a violation of law, but is justified by the decisions of this court, citing Nixon v. State (1881), 76 Ind. 524; Ball v. State (1875), 50 Ind. 595. The same contention ivas made in the case of Barton v. State (1884), 99 Ind. 89, where appellant was found guilty of violating the provisions of §2099 R. S. 1881, which made it unlawful for a druggist to barter, sell or give away any intoxicating liquor on Sunday or on certain other days, or between certain hours mentioned in said section, “unless the person, to wdiom the same is sold, bartered or given shall have first procured a written prescription therefor from some regular practicing physician of the county where the same is so sold, bartered, or given away. ’ ’ In relation to said contention this court said in that case, at page 90: “Appellant contends, however, that as the liquor was sold in good faith for medicinal purposes, the ease is not within the spirit of the law. In support of this contention, we are cited to the case of Nixon v. State [1881], 76 Ind. 524, as being conclusive. That was a prosecution against a druggist for having sold intoxicating liquors without a license. The court followed previous cases, in excepting from the operation of the statute requiring a license, sales made in good faith for medicinal purposes. The spirit and intent of the statutes requiring a license to sell intoxicating liquors were to regulate and curtail the sale of such liquors, and lessen intoxication, and not to prohibit the sale for medicinal purposes. The case of Nixon v. State, supra, and the cases there cited, rest upon this interpretation. This reasoning cannot be applied to the ease before us. * * # The section [§2099 R. S. 1881] is an absolute inhibition upon the sale of such liquors on the days named, to be drunk as a beverage. It seems to [471]*471recognize the right of druggists to sell such liquors for medicinal purposes, but imposes a condition upon such sales on Sunday and the other days named, and that is, that the sale shall be made only to those who may have procured a written prescription therefor from a regular practicing physician of the county. The intention is to prohibit the sale on those days except in cases of sickness. And in order that this intention shall not be thwarted by feigned sickness, the prescription is required; and that there may be no imposition here, the physician must be a regular practicing physician ; and still further to guard against imposition, the physician must be of the county where the liquor is to be sold, so that the druggists and the authorities may be more likely to have a personal acquaintance with him. This condition is the barrier erected about the sale by druggists on those days. To hold that the sale may be made on those days without the prescription, would be to override and break down that barrier. Such a holding would be in conflict with both the spirit and letter of the statute. It would carry us beyond the boundaries of interpretation and construction, into the domain of legislation. The argument, that cases of emergency may arise where it may be inconvenient, if not impossible, to procure such a prescription in time to prevent serious consequences, may have force when addressed to legislators, but it cannot be controlling with the courts, whose duty it is to declare the law as enacted by the lawmaking branch of the government.” Said case was approved by this court in Tilford v. State (1887), 109 Ind. 359, and in Edwards v. State (1890), 121 Ind. 450. In the ease last cited this court said: “In a prosecution for the violation of this statute [§2099 R. S. 1881], it is no defense that the liquor was sold in good faith for medicinal purposes. It was so decided by this court in the case of Barton v. State [1884], 99 Ind. 89, and in the case of Tilford v. State (1887), 109 Ind. 359. ■ * ® # jn addition to what was said in the two eases above cited, it may be remarked that, prima facie, every sale of in[472]*472toxicating liquor on Sunday, and the other days named in the statute, is unlawful. The burden of showing such sale to be lawful rests upon the person making the sale, and the statute contemplates that such proof shall be in writing.” See, also, Rizer v. Tapper (1907), 133 Iowa 628, 630, 631, 110 N. W. 1038, and cases cited; Peak v. Bidinger (1907), 133 Iowa 127, 110 N. W. 292; Commonwealth v. Perry (1889), 148 Mass. 160, 19 N. E. 212.

1. It was no defense to a prosecution for a violation of §2099, supra, that the liquor was sold in good faith, for medicinal purposes, and that it was actually used for such purpose, if not sold upon a written prescription, as required by said section. Caldwell v. State (1897), 18 Ind. App. 48, 51, and cases cited. Section 2099, supra, was reenacted in 1905 as §580 of the act concerning public offenses (Acts 1905 p. 722, §2493 Burns 1908).

2. It is evident that the reasoning of the court in the cases of Nixon v. State, supra, and Ball v. State, supra, cannot be applied to the ease now before us, but that the rule declared in the cases of Barton v. State, supra, Tilford v. State, supra, and Edwards v. State, supra. applies.

The part of §8352, supra, upon which appellant relies, reads as follows: “It shall be lawful for any druggist or pharmacist to sell vinous or spirituous liquors in quantities not less than a quart at a time for medicinal, industrial or scientific purposes, and for no other purposes, and then only upon the written (not printed or typewritten) prescription of a reputable physician in active practice, or upon the written and signed application of any other person who is personally known to such druggist or pharmacist and who is by him known not to be a person in the habit of rising intoxicating liquors as a beverage, such person stating therein that such liquor is desired and will be used for medicinal, scientific or educational purposes only, and upon making such sale such druggist shall indorse in writing on such [473]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
92 N.E. 340, 174 Ind. 468, 1910 Ind. LEXIS 131, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ryan-v-state-ind-1910.