Townsend v. City of Mobile

793 So. 2d 828, 1998 WL 678123
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedMay 28, 1999
DocketCR-97-1394
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 793 So. 2d 828 (Townsend v. City of Mobile) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Townsend v. City of Mobile, 793 So. 2d 828, 1998 WL 678123 (Ala. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

793 So.2d 828 (1998)

Thomas R. TOWNSEND III
v.
CITY OF MOBILE.

CR-97-1394.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

October 2, 1998.
Opinion on Return to Remand May 28, 1999.
Rehearing Denied December 3, 1999.

*829 Gregory S. Combs, Mobile, for appellant.

Wanda J. Cochran, asst. city atty., Mobile, for appellee.

McMILLAN, Judge.

The appellant, Thomas R. Townsend III, was found guilty by the City of Mobile Municipal Court of failing to purchase a business license. He was fined $200 plus court costs and was sentenced to 30 days in jail. That sentence was suspended and he was placed on one year's probation. After appealing his case to circuit court, the appellant was found guilty and was fined $200 plus court costs. The appellant asserts that City of Mobile Ordinance No. 34-082, under which he was prosecuted, discriminates against interstate commerce in violation of the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. U.S. Const., Art. I, § 8.

I.

The City of Mobile asserts that this Court is without jurisdiction to decide the appellant's Commerce Clause claim because the appellant failed to notify the attorney general that he was challenging the constitutionality of a city ordinance, and it cites § 6-6-227, Ala.Code 1975, in support of its assertion. However, § 6-6-227 is a provision included in the civil practice section of the Code and is inapplicable in a criminal proceeding. Because the appellant properly presented his constitutional argument to the circuit court, the issue is properly before this Court.

II.

The appellant asserts that his conviction is due to be reversed because, he says, the City of Mobile failed to have *830 admitted into evidence a correct copy of the complete ordinance under which it prosecuted him. The City of Mobile concedes that it did not admit into evidence the full ordinance, and that it inadvertently left out portions of the ordinance reciting the levy and providing for penalties. However, contrary to the appellant's assertion, the City of Mobile admitted enough of the ordinance to define the crime of which the appellant is accused and to set out the penalties. Attached to "City's Exhibit # 4" were portions of the ordinance defining key terms, such as "business," and setting out the criminal penalties as they applied to the appellant. Therefore, any omissions from the ordinance as it was admitted into evidence were harmless.

III.

The appellant asserts that City of Mobile Ordinance No. 34-082, as applied to him, violates the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. That ordinance, as amended, provides:

"And each and every person, firm, company, association, partnership, agency or corporation, wherever located, engaging in or carrying on or doing any act or thing herein specified, in or from the City of Mobile an annual license thereof as follows:
"Unless otherwise provided by this Ordinance, the annual license shall be calculated by applying to the Licensee's gross revenues (gross receipts and gross sales) for the prior year, the applicable rate from the following schedule of rates: (Provided, that in no case shall the full year calculated on the basis of gross revenues be less than $120.00)...."

Although the ordinance includes a lengthy schedule of rates depending on the occupation and revenues, the appellant was assessed the minimum amount, $120, in 1997 because neither he nor his employer, Garland Company, generated sufficient revenues warranting a higher assessment. However, the appellant argues that this amount could not be assessed against him because he was engaged in interstate commerce on behalf of Garland, an Ohio corporation with headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio. Garland manufactures and sells roofing and waterproofing products around the country, including within the city limits of Mobile.

The United States Supreme Court has held "that a tax violates the Commerce Clause `when it unfairly burdens commerce by exacting more than a just share from the interstate activity.'" Tyler Pipe Indus. v. Washington State Dep't. of Rev., 483 U.S. 232, 107 S.Ct. 2810, 97 L.Ed.2d 199 (1987), quoting Washington Dep't. of Revenue v. Association of Washington Stevedoring Cos., 435 U.S. 734, 98 S.Ct. 1388, 55 L.Ed.2d 682 (1978). Previously, the Court had held that interstate commerce was completely immune from state taxation. Spector Motor Service, Inc. v. O'Connor, 340 U.S. 602, 71 S.Ct. 508, 95 L.Ed. 573 (1951). However, the Court later recognized that those engaged in interstate commerce should be made to pay their fair share of the state tax burden. In Complete Auto Transit v. Brady, 430 U.S. 274, 97 S.Ct. 1076, 51 L.Ed.2d 326 (1977), the Court overturned Spector, replacing it with a four-pronged analysis to determine if a given state tax violates the Commerce Clause. In order to withstand judicial scrutiny, the tax must:

"(1) Be applied to an activity with a substantial nexus with the taxing State;
"(2) Be fairly apportioned;
"(3) Not discriminate against interstate commerce; and
*831 "(4) Be fairly related to the services provided by the State."

Id. at 279, 97 S.Ct. 1076.

Before the Complete Auto test is applied, however, we must first determine whether the activity in question constitutes interstate commerce. The appellant asserts that his activity as an agent for Garland does constitute interstate commerce; citing early United States Supreme Court "drummer" cases.[1]Robbins v. Taxing District of Shelby County, 120 U.S. 489, 7 S.Ct. 592, 30 L.Ed. 694 (1887); Memphis Steam Laundry Cleaner v. Stone, 342 U.S. 389, 72 S.Ct. 424, 96 L.Ed. 436 (1952). Robbins worked for a firm located in Ohio that sold paper and stationary and he was a resident of Ohio. He traveled to different states soliciting sales by displaying samples of his company's products. Id. The City of Memphis, Tennessee, fined Robbins for failing to obtain a business license in connection with his "drumming" activities within the city. However, the United States Supreme Court held that such activity was interstate commerce and was not subject to local taxes. Id. at 497-98, 7 S.Ct. 592. Although the Court's holding that interstate commerce was completely immune from such taxation has been modified, the analysis in Robbins regarding what constitutes interstate commerce still applies.

The City of Mobile disputes the appellant's characterization of himself as a "drummer." According to the City, "Townsend is no drummer, and his reliance on the drummer cases is misplaced. His attempt to style himself as an itinerant, a poor traveling salesman with no significant contact to Mobile is belied by the record." Brief of Appellee at p. 14.

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Bluebook (online)
793 So. 2d 828, 1998 WL 678123, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/townsend-v-city-of-mobile-alacrimapp-1999.