Sanders Mfg. Co. v. United States

5 Cust. Ct. 585, 1940 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3270
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedNovember 4, 1940
DocketNo. 5044; Entry No. 40-A, etc.
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 5 Cust. Ct. 585 (Sanders Mfg. Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Customs Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sanders Mfg. Co. v. United States, 5 Cust. Ct. 585, 1940 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3270 (cusc 1940).

Opinion

Cline, Judge:

The question involved in these reappraisements is the value of sand glasses, known as 3-minute egg timers, telephone timers, etc., exported from Germany at various dates and entered at [586]*586the port of Nashville. Eight appeals were consolidated and tried together. The cases are now before 'the court on rehearing: Trials were held at'Nashville on May 8, 1936, and November 2, 1937, and a decision was rendered by Judge Brown holding that the dutiable value of the merchandise was 28.50 reichsmarks per thousand, plus cases and packing at 5.50 reichsmarks per case (Reap. Dec. 4302, 73 Treas, Dec. 1519). The United States filed an application for review and the Appellate Division of this court reversed the judgment of the trial judge and held that the plaintiff had not produced evidence sufficient to overcome the presumption of correctness attaching to the appraiser’s action and directed that the case be remanded for rehearing for all purposes (Reap. Dec. 4694). The Appellate Division held also that Judge Brown erred in admitting two affidavits in evidence (exhibits 3 and 4) because they contained jurats written in the German language.

The suit numbers, names of shippers, dates of exportation, and invoice prices of the merchandise are shown in the following schedule:

Entry of the merchandise from Hollein & Reinhardt was made at 27.50 reichsmarks per thousand, plus cases and packing. The merchandise from Robert Bosenberg was entered at the unit invoice price, plus packing. The merchandise from Heinrich Rammes was entered at the unit invoice price less insurance and freight from Eurth to New York, except that an additional deduction of $8.50 for non-dutiable charges was made on the entry covered by appeal 110209-A.

All of the merchandise was appraised on the basis of foreign value at 37.50 reichsmarks per thousand, plus packing and cases at 5.50 reichsmarks per case.

At the rehearing counsel for the Government offered in evidence the record made in the case at the previous trial, which record had been reviewed by the Appellate Division of this court. The record was admitted in evidence without objection. The Appellate Division reviewed this evidence in great detail in its decision published in Reap. Dec. 4694 and therefore it is deemed unnecessary to lengthen this decision by again reviewing the same matter. The only point in the Appellate Division’s review which seems to differ from the facts [587]*587is that the Appellate Division states that, of the letters offered, in evidence and rejected at the first hearing and marked “collective exhibit 2 for identification”, ■ only two were admitted in evidence as “collective exhibit 2.” It appears that Judge Brown admitted all of the letters in collective exhibit 2 for identification, as shown in his opinion in Reap. Dec. 4302, and that there were two other letters which were admitted in evidence before him and marked “collective exhibit 5”.

At the trial on rehearing the plaintiff introduced the testimony of Carl Otto Katz with respect to the jurats on the affidavits in exhibits 3 and 4 which the Appellate Division criticized because they were in the German language and because of this defect held that the exhibits had been erroneously admitted in evidence. The witness testified that he was born in Germany, attended school there, and understood both the German and the English languages. When asked to read the statement in the German language on the back of the affidavit in exhibit 3, he replied:

A. The signature of the merchant, Mr. Eugen Rammes, sole owner of the firm of Heinrich Rammes, in Furth in Bavaria, is herewith attested. Furth, September 19, 1936. Notary Public, Precinct Furth I. Signed, Mayer, Notary Public.

When asked to translate the statement on the back of exhibit 4, the witness said:

A. The signature on the other side of this document of the merchant, Mr. Leo Stubenreich, in Nürnberg — W Garden Street Number 3, is herewith attested. The identity of Mr. Stubenreich has been verified by the notary public through the merchant Mr. Eugen Rammes in Furth, who is a personal acquaintance of the notary public. Furth, September 19, 1936, Notary Public, Precinct Furth I, Mayer, Notary Public.

The witness translated also the seals on the hack of the exhibits as follows: ■ . "

Counsel of Justice, Ferdinant Mayer, Notary in Furth, Bavaria.

Counsel for the defendant objected to these affidavits on the ground that they were not in proper form, were unauthenticated documents having no consular certificate attached thereto, and having no certificate of any court of record to show that the person who purports to be a notary is authorized under the law to take signatures on such instruments. The objection was taken under advisement and the affidavits were marked “ exhibits A and- B for identification.”

Counsel for the plaintiff points out that the exhibits begin with the statement “Affiant states under oath” and “Affiant makes oath,” respectively, and that the exhibits show on their face that they were executed under oath and that they contain the seal of the notary showing his official status.

[588]*588There appears to be no set form for an affi davit admissible under the authority of section 501 of the Tariff Act of 1930, citing Amtorg Trading Corp. v. United States, 21 C. C. P. A. 532, T. D. 46975, and there is no requirement that an affidavit be executed before a United States official, such as consul, etc. The defect found in the affidavits by the Appellate Division has been cured by the translation of the jurats in open court.

The witness testified that he had been a resident of Germany until the year 1923 and that his two brothers were lawyers and that he knew the statements on the back of the affidavits were the official way by which affidavits were attested in Germany. The fact that they are still attested the same way would seem to indicate that the method had not changed. The affidavits are received in evidence as exhibits 3 and 4, which marks they bear, and exception is granted counsel for the Government.

The plaintiff called Mr. J. J. Sanders who testified at the previous hearings. He stated that he keeps in touch with the markets in Germany by correspondence and by talcing magazines; that he did not ask for a special price but purchased the goods in this case in the open market in the usual course of trade.

The plaintiff called also Mr. Harvey W. Douglas, who is the deputy collector of customs at the port of Nashville and who appraised the merchandise in these cases. He testified that he appraised the sand glasses on the basis of foreign value at 37.50 reichsmarks per thousand, plus cases and packing at 5.50 reichsmarks per case.

The plaintiff in a reappraisement case has the burden of establishing every element necessary to enable the court to appraise the merchandise. The appellate court has specified these requirements in a number of decisions. In the case of United States v. T. D. Downing Co., 20 C. C. P. A. 251, 253, T. D. 46057, the court said:

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

Related

Conkey v. United States
42 Cust. Ct. 600 (U.S. Customs Court, 1959)
Kittleson v. United States
27 Cust. Ct. 428 (U.S. Customs Court, 1951)
United States v. Brooks Paper Co.
26 Cust. Ct. 596 (U.S. Customs Court, 1951)
Selig v. United States
21 Cust. Ct. 342 (U.S. Customs Court, 1948)
United States v. Luigi Vitelli Elvea, Inc.
11 Cust. Ct. 437 (U.S. Customs Court, 1943)
United States v. Nippon Trading Co.
8 Cust. Ct. 658 (U.S. Customs Court, 1942)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
5 Cust. Ct. 585, 1940 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 3270, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sanders-mfg-co-v-united-states-cusc-1940.