State v. Runyon

124 P. 259, 62 Or. 246, 1912 Ore. LEXIS 138
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedJune 4, 1912
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 124 P. 259 (State v. Runyon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Runyon, 124 P. 259, 62 Or. 246, 1912 Ore. LEXIS 138 (Or. 1912).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Moore

delivered the opinion of the court.

It is contended by defendant’s counsel, that in addition to the facts set forth in the accusation, it should have been alleged therein that a legal petition was filed with the county court, invoking an application of the local option law; that, based thereon, an election was ordered to be held at the time and in the entire district specified; that the requisite number of notices were issued and posted for the length of time and in the places designated in the statute (Section 4920 et seq.) ; but that, failing in these respects, the indictment was insufficient, and an error was committed in overruling the demurrer.

It is a majority of the votes cast thereon in the designated district for prohibition that puts into operation within that territory the provisions of the local option law; and, based on the county clerk’s abstract of such vote, it is the orders of the county court, declaring the result of the election and absolutely prohibiting the sale of intoxicating, liquors within the prescribed limits, except for the purposes and under the regulations specified in the statute, that imparts the required notice of the interdiction. The statute prescribing the force and effect of such precept, as far as important herein, reads as follows:

“The order thus made shall be held to be prima facie evidence that all the provisions of the law have been complied with in giving notice of and holding said election, and in counting and returning the votes and declaring the "esults thereof.” Section 4929, L. O. L.

[249]*249The proof supplied by introducing in evidence copies of the orders of the county court, setting forth the particulars indicated, is sufficient to establish the several facts enumerated in the statute, relating to all the initiatory proceedings demanded to put into effect the prohibition law, unless the illegality of one or more of the several steps undertaken is substantiated by the defendant. State v. Carmody, 50 Or. 1 (91 Pac. 446, 1081: 12 L. R. A. [N. S.] 828).

In that case, the information, which, when the action was instituted, could be substituted for an indictment, averred the existence of the four constituent facts required before the provisions of the enactment could be violated. Section 4934, L. O. L. The sufficiency of the information was challenged and the evidence objected to, on the ground that it was not alleged or shown that a “valid” election, to determine whether the sale of intoxicating liquors should be prohibited in the territory specified, was ordered or held as required by law. In deciding that case, Mr. Chief Justice Bean, referring to the prima facie evidence of the legality of all previous proceedings in the matter of the election that was afforded by the orders of the county court says:

“It is therefore unnecessary, in a prosecution for a violation of the act, for the State to allege or prove that a valid election was held, or that a majority of the voters of the county, subdivision, or precinct, as the case may be, was in favor of prohibition.”

The only question thus involved, considered, or determined was the necessity for the use of the word “valid” to qualify the term “election,” as employed in the information. By deciding that the limiting expression insisted upon was not essential to the efficiency of the formal charge, it was adjudged that the' information was sufficient without the use of such word. If it was unnecessary to allege that the election was “valid”, it was [250]*250not essential for the State to offer any proof on that subject, except the orders of the county court, until after the defendant’s evidence had been introduced, challenging the legality of the election. The form of stating the charge, a copy of which is set forth in a specification of the facts in the opinion in that case, was thereby adopted, and the language employed in the information constituted a guide which could have been safely followed in subsequent cases. Without adverting to the decision in State v. Carmody, 50 Or. 1 (91 Pac. 446, 1081: 12 L. R. A. [N. S.] 828; the rule there announced was strictly observed in State v. Townsend, 60 Or. 223 (118 Pac. 1020).

1. In the case at bar, the sale of intoxicating liquor, alleged to have been unlawfully made, was forbidden by the local option law then in force in Wallowa County; and the principle is settled that, when a statute describes an offense with such particularity as to inform the party accused of the facts with which he is charged, an indictment is sufficient, if it follows the language of the enactment. State v. Thompson, 28 Or. 296 (42 Pac. 1002) ; State v. Miller, 54 Or. 381 (103 Pac. 519) ; State v. Atwood, 54 Or. 526 (102 Pac. 295: 104 Pac. 195: 21 Ann. Cas. 516).

2. The indictment herein notified the defendant that in a designated district an election had been held, resulting in a majority of the votes cast thereon for prohibition; that the county court had made an order declaring the result, and an order absolutely prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors in that territory; and the accusation also charged him with having unlawfully sold to a designated person alcoholic drink, within the prescribed bounds of prohibition. The defendant was therefore adequately informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him; and the indictment is sufficient to enable a person of common understanding to know what [251]*251was intended. Const. Or., Art. I, § 11; Section 1437, L. O. L.; State v. Carmody, 50 Or. 1 (91 Pac. 446, 1081: 12 L. R. A. [N. S.] 828) ; State v. Kline, 50 Or. 426 (93 Pac. 237) ; State v. Townsend, 60 Or. 223 (118 Pac. 1020).

3. It is insisted that, since sales of intoxicating liquors may be lawfully made within the bounds of prohibition for scientific, sacramental, and medicinal purposes, the accusation should have negatived these several exceptions, but, not having done so, the indictment was insufficient, and an error was committed in not sustaining the demurrer. Where a section of a statute or of an ordinance declares that any person who shall sell intoxicating liquors “without first having obtained a license for that purpose”, or where the section proclaims it to be unlawful to sell alcoholic stimulants, “provided, however, nothing herein contained shall prohibit the sale” of such liquors for certain purposes, the exception is a part of the enacting clause specifying the commission of the offense, and must be negatived in an accusation charging a commission of the crime. 1 Bishop’s New Crim. Proced. § 636, subd. 4; Wong Sing v. Independence, 47 Or. 231 (83 Pac. 387). When such a proviso is contained within the enacting clause of a statute or an ordinance, if an accusation for a violation of the law charges a sale of intoxicating liquor “for beverage purposes,” the exception is sufficiently negatived. Gue v. City of Eugene, 53 Or. 282 (100 Pac. 254).

The statute enumerates the exceptions to the operation of the local option law. (Section 4921, L. O. L.) The section of that law denouncing a sale of intoxicating liquor, which is sometimes called the enacting clause, does not contain any proviso. (Section 4934, L. O.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
124 P. 259, 62 Or. 246, 1912 Ore. LEXIS 138, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-runyon-or-1912.