Texas Liquor Control Board v. Johnson

298 S.W.2d 227, 1957 Tex. App. LEXIS 2335
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 11, 1957
Docket15764
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 298 S.W.2d 227 (Texas Liquor Control Board v. Johnson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Texas Liquor Control Board v. Johnson, 298 S.W.2d 227, 1957 Tex. App. LEXIS 2335 (Tex. Ct. App. 1957).

Opinion

*228 BOYD, Justice.

Acting through its Assistant Administrator, the Texas Liquor Control Board, after notice and hearing, made an order canceling C. Johnson’s beer and wine retail license, and Johnson appealed to the District Court. Upon a trial, the court set aside the order of the Board, and the Board has appealed.

The basis for the order canceling the license was a finding that appellee Johnson had on three occasions permitted intoxicated persons to remain on the premises included in 'the permit. The court found that the finding was not reasonably supported by substantial evidence.

. Appellee and his family lived on the premises in question and operated a cafe and grocery store. He had been selling beer under a license for six years continuously before his permit was canceled. There was testimony that no complaint had ever been made to the officers about the conduct of the business, and that on several occasions the officers thoroughly examined the premises, including the living quarters, and at no time was appellee cautioned or reprimanded.

Appellee testified that: he never permitted drunk people to remain on his premises; he knew that his license would be canceled if he did; his wife, two daughters, and a son-in-law worked in the establishment, and they had strict instructions to report to him if any drunk person was there; he had asked some to leave; he ran a quiet place; there was never any “bad” language; his place was in a residential area, and most of his customers were married and settled; most of the business was from married couples coming there together; they were laboring people, and he never had large crowds except on Friday and Saturday nights; he furnished a band, and there was dancing in the cafe; many of the people in the neighborhood came from Louisiana and spoke French; he could not understand them; they did a French dance, the “zitico,” the music coming from an accordion and a rubboard; “They get up and go round and round;” some drank beer, some danced, and some just listened to the music; he worked behind the bar, but often walked among the people to see what was going on; no one there was drunk on the dates in question; on October 23, 1955, the officers were called “for a fight on the street” about one-half block from his place; they did not find the people, and then the officers came into his place; they told him he had too many people there and they were going to close the place and take a lot of the people to jail; “he told me to stop the Victrola, and as they started out they arrested them at the door;” some of those arrested had just got there and had not been served.

Appellee’s wife testified without dispute that Liquor Control Board officers many times inspected their premises and had never objected to anything; and that October 23, 1955, was the first time an arrest had been made at their place.

Several persons whose alleged drunkenness occasioned the cancellation hearing testified on the trial, and all denied being intoxicated. Some said they had drunk no alcoholic beverage on the days in question, and some said they had never drunk such beverages. One said he went in to cash a check and was arrested immediately, and that he had not drunk anything that day. At least one paid a fine, although he testified that he had drunk nothing. Some were released, and the record fails to show what became of the cases against the others.

Appellant offered the record of the proceedings before the Board, and the testimony of three witnesses, Officers Ross, Smith, and Ontevaris.

According to Ross, he received a call about a fight at appellee’s place shortly before midnight, October 22, 1955; when he got there, appellee told him there were so many people there he did not know what *229 had happened; witness returned to the premises shortly after midnight and found Martin and a woman in front of the place; the woman said that Martin played in the band, was her husband, had been with another woman, and she wanted to file charges against him; witness went into the cafe and “They all said the same thing; this man was playing and she came in and started fighting with him, and bit him on the shoulder and arm;” he found several people whom he thought were drunk; some were “wobbly” on their feet and could not stand up; they were “milling around the place and on the dance floor, and some of them standing up against the posts at the side, holding to the posts and if they turned loose they could hardly walk. * * * one of the reasons that we arrested them, you couldn’t understand them.” The breath of some “was strong with alcoholic beverage of some kind.” “I would say the place was so crowded that anybody standing behind the bar couldn’t see what was going on. It was just like Johnson says.” He made four arrests for drunkenness; he was in the cafe on November 5, 1955, and found two men against whom he filed charges for drunkenness; there was no disturbance either time he was there.

Smith testified that: he was called to the locality on November 5, 1955, to investigate a “gang fight” but found none; he was accompanied by Ontevaris; they were in the place four or five minutes before they started making arrests for drunkenness; several people were arrested; he did not know how long any of the alleged drunk people were in the cafe before he got there; Johnson made no attempt to put anybody out; there was no disturbance, and no loud or obscene language.

Ontevaris testified substantially as follows : he was called to the area on November 26, 1955, “to assist car 151 at that location in a gang fight;” the fight “had apparently dispersed” when he got there; one Greaze, was being held by the officers in front of the cafe, and was charged with aggravated assault upon an officer; the officers went into the cafe and started “signing them up;” ten were “jailed” for alleged drunkenness; when people were sitting down he could not tell whether they were drunk; no charge was filed against appellee.

Over appellee’s objection, appellant introduced a transcript of the proceedings before the Board. We have examined it, for whatever it may be worth on this appeal, and find that while testifying on the hearing, appellee was asked, “Are you still selling whiskey?” and “Are you still selling marijuana?” There was no evidence before the Board or before the court that appellee ever sold either. Appellee filed with the Administrator affidavits of eight people whom the officers said were drunk at his place. All the deponents denied being drunk on the occasions in question. On the trial, appel-lee’s wife testified without contradiction that the Administrator folded the affidavits and did not look at any of them.

Articles 667-19, 667-19B of the Penal Code provide that a 'beer and wine retail permit may be canceled or suspended if the licensee permits any intoxicated person to remain on the premises covered by the permit. Article 666-14 provides that an appeal from any order of the Texas Liquor Control Board or its Administrator refusing, canceling, or suspending a retail permit may be taken to the District Court, and that the proceeding on appeal shall be against the Board alone as defendant, and the trial shall be de novo under the same rules as ordinary civil cases, with certain exceptions not here relevant.

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Bluebook (online)
298 S.W.2d 227, 1957 Tex. App. LEXIS 2335, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/texas-liquor-control-board-v-johnson-texapp-1957.