Sanders v. State

404 S.W.2d 506, 218 Tenn. 527, 22 McCanless 527, 1966 Tenn. LEXIS 585
CourtTennessee Supreme Court
DecidedJune 3, 1966
StatusPublished

This text of 404 S.W.2d 506 (Sanders v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sanders v. State, 404 S.W.2d 506, 218 Tenn. 527, 22 McCanless 527, 1966 Tenn. LEXIS 585 (Tenn. 1966).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Ceesoít

delivered the opinion of the Court.

This appeal comes from the Criminal Court of Hamilton County, Tennessee. The parties will be referred to as they appeared in the trial court; that is, plaintiff in error Paul Sanders as defendant, and defendant in error as the State.

On May 26, 1965, the defendant was indicted for unlawfully and feloniously having in his possession explosives without having met the mandate of the Tennessee law relating to the possession of explosives and without having complied with the regulations of the State Fire Marshal; and the defendant not having been a common carrier or an employee of a common carrier certified by the Tennessee Public Service Commission or the Interstate Commerce Commission.

The defendant made a motion to quash the indictment which was overruled, after hearing, on October 13, 1965. The case was tried on October 13,1965, and the defendant was found guilty as charged in the indictment. He was sentenced to not more than nor less than two years in the State Penitentiary. Defendant seasonably filed a motion for a new trial on October 22, 1965. On November 8, 1965, the trial court overruled the motion for a new trial. The defendant has timely perfected his appeal to this Court. Defendant assigns as error the following:

[530]*530‘ ‘Assignment of Error No. 1, The Court erred in not sustaining the Motion to Quash the indictment upon the grounds that Chapter 85, Section 2, of the Public Acts of 1957 are unconstitutional being vague and indefinite so as not to admit any reasonable interpretation.”

“Assignment of Error No. 2. The Court erred in not sustaining the Motion to Quash the Indictment because of its failure to aver that the appellant had explosives for the purpose of committing some illegal act. ’ ’

“Assignment of Error No. 3. That the Court erred in refusing Request for Charge made by the appellant as follows:

‘I further charge you that you must find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant, in order to be guilty of the offense charged in the indictment, must have possessed explosives for the purpose of committing an illegal act. However, it is not necessary for the State to prove what property or life might have been in danger thereby. ’ ’ ’

On the night of July 29, 1963, the defendant was arrested by two officers of the City of Chattanooga Police Department. At the time of his arrest, the defendant was in an intoxicated condition, and was immediately arrested and charged with the offense of driving while intoxicated. The police officers searched the vehicle defendant was driving and discovered several sticks of dynamite on the floorboard in the front of the automobile and a dynamite fuse cap over the sun visor in the automobile. The foregoing is undisputed on the record.

Defendant’s first assignment of error asserts that Chapter 85, Section 2 of the Public Acts of 1957 is uncon[531]*531stitutional, being so vague and indefinite as not tó permit any reasonably certain interpretation. Tbe section of tbe Public Act previously referred to is incorporated in T.C.A. sec. 39-1406. It is necessary that tbe entire Act be read together; that is, T.C.A. sec. 39-1405 through T.C.A. sec. 39-1410, which is, in part, as follows:

“39-1405. Unauthorized possession, use or transportation — Definition of explosive. — The term explosive or explosives wherever used in secs. 39-1405 — 39-1412 shall be held to mean and include dynamite or its derivatives and shall include any chemical compound or chemical mixture that contains any oxidizing and combustible units, or other ingredient in such proportions that ignition by fire, friction, concussion, percussion, or detonation, may cause a sudden generation of gaseous pressures capable of producing conditions destructive to life or property; except it shall not mean to include the possession, transportation or use of small arms ammunitions and/or fireworks, gasoline or motor fuels.”
“39-1406. Unauthorized possession or transportation of explosives — Felony.—Except as authorized by law or regulations of the state fire marshal, any person or persons who may be found to be in possession of or to have transported any explosive or explosives, or to have in possession or transported any component part of an explosive or explosives such as fuses, caps, detonators, wiring, or other means of creating an explosion or explosions of an illegal act capable of producing conditions destructive to life or property shall be deemed guilty of a felony. (Acts 1957, ch. 85, sec. 2.) ”
[532]*532“39-1409. Possession without compliance with regulations of state fire marshal deemed prima facie possession or transportation for illegal use. — Any person or persons found to have in their possession or to be transporting explosive or explosives as defined in sec. 39-1405 and who have not complied with the regulations of the state fire marshal in the keeping, storing, use, manufacture, sale, handling, transportation or other disposition of explosive or explosives shall be deemed to have the same in their possession, transportation, direction or control prima facie for the purpose of committing an illegal act, and it shall not be required of the state to prove what property or life might have been endangered thereby. (Acts 1957, ch. 85, sec. 5.) ”

Chapter 85 of the Public Acts of 1957 is a single scheme of legislation designed to minimize the potentiality of explosives for destruction of life or property. Being such, under rules too long established to require citation of authority, the Act should be read as a whole, in deriving legislative intent. When this is done, and effect given to all the legislative language, we would have no hesitation in holding that such legislation is sufficiently definite, intelligible and informative to meet constitutional requirements.

The above, however, does not resolve the really critical problem in this case. That is presented by assignments of error numbers 2 and 3. We have previously quoted these assignments.

Counsel for the respective parties argue different questions. On page 3 of the State’s Reply Brief, it is said:

“The real question to be considered is whether or not the Legislature can make the possession or transporta-[533]*533tioiL of an explosive illegal unless handled in a manner required by law an offensé without regard to what the person charged with its possession or transportation intended to do with it.”

On the other hand, the defendant argues that intent to commit an illegal act in addition to possession or transportation of explosives without lawful authority constitute the substance of the crime under the Code section hereinbefore quoted — that is to say, that intent to commit a second offense is an element of the crime for which the defendant was indicted and now stands convicted.

Where the pivotal question before this Court that presented by the State; that is, whether or not the Legislature could make the possession or transportation of an explosive illegal if not handled in a manner required by law, without regard to what the person charged with its possession or transportation intended to do with it, we would unquestionably hold that the Legislature could so provide. However, this is not the question presented by this case; but, rather, the question is, has the Legislature so provided.

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Bluebook (online)
404 S.W.2d 506, 218 Tenn. 527, 22 McCanless 527, 1966 Tenn. LEXIS 585, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sanders-v-state-tenn-1966.