Toy v. United States

266 F. 326, 1920 U.S. App. LEXIS 1691
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedMay 12, 1920
DocketNo. 144
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 266 F. 326 (Toy v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Toy v. United States, 266 F. 326, 1920 U.S. App. LEXIS 1691 (2d Cir. 1920).

Opinions

MANTON, Circuit Judge.

The defendant in error has asked for, and has been granted, a reargument on this writ of error, appealing [327]*327from a judgment of conviction of the crime of concealing smoking opium and manufacturing smoking opium. We heretofore reversed the judgment of conviction, for the reason that, as announced in the opinion filed, error was committed by the trial court in placing the plaintiffs in error on trial on two indictments charging inconsistent offenses, and further that it was incumbent upon the government to prove that the opium in question was in fact imported. We held, in effect, that the presumption created by the statute did not relieve the government from the necessity of offering proof of illegal importation.

The first indictment, filed April 23, 1918, charged the plaintiffs in error with a violation of the Act of February 9, 1909, as amended by the Act of January 17, 1914 (section 8374, Barnes’ Federal Code, 35 Stat. 614, 38 Stat. 275 [Comp. St. §§ 8800—88011]), concealing smoking opium. This statute makes it an offense, after April 1, 1909, to import into the United States opium in any form, or any preparation or derivative thereof, providing that the opium, or preparation or derivative thereof, other than smoking opium or opium prepared for smoking, may be imported for medicinal purposes, and this only under regulations which the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to prescribe. When so imported, it is subject to the duties which are or may thereafter be imposed by law.

In the second indictment, filed June 26, 1918, under which the plaintiffs in error have been convicted, they are charged with manufacturing smoking opium in violation of the Act of January 17, 1914 (38 Stat. 277 [Comp. St. §§ 6287a-6287f]). This indictment consists of three counts. The first count charges engaging in the manufacture of smoking opium when the plaintiffs in error were not citizens of the United States; the second count charges that the plaintiffs in error were engaged in manufacturing smoking opium without giving a bond required by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue; .and the third c.ouut charges the manufacture of opium without keeping books, and rendering returns of the materials and products, as required by-the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. After conviction, the plaintiffs in error were sentenced, under the first indictment, to two years in the Maryland prison, and, under the second indictment, to pay a fine of $10,000 on *he first, second, and third counts, making a total of $30,000. They thereafter sued out this writ of error.

The plaintiffs in error were found in a room on the sixth floor of No. 25 Pell street, New York City, on the night of April 3, 1918. A police officer came to the door,- which was opened by Toy. In his hand at the time was a tin of smoking opium. The plaintiff in error Cip was seated at a table in the room rolling opium toys in packages. The testimony is-that his hand smelled of the odor of opium. On the table were 124 toys containing smoking opium. The officer found a wash basin containing a quantity of gum opium in the room. He placed this opium in four bottles. There were some other receptacles containing smoking opium and a quantity of yen slice, and some empty receptacles and small tin cans which had contained opium. A metal needle, three knives,'a wooden stock, a copper funnel, a basin, a small gas stove and tubing, and a weighing scale were also found. The room [328]*328used by the plaintiffs in error was single and unattached. There were no articles of furniture, other than a table and chair. The plaintiffs in error had not provided a bond or obtained a permit, as required by the internal revenue officer of tire district, to permit them to engage in the manufacture of smoking opium under the statute. The quantity of opium above referred to is the entire lot which was found in possession of the. plaintiffs in error and taken from them. They were not citizens.

[1, 2] In view of the enactment of Congress (Act Jan. 17, 1914, c. 10, 38 Stat. 277), we think it was not inconsistent or erroneous to try the plaintiffs in error on both indictments at one time. In United States v. Shelley, 229 U. S. 239, 33 Sup. Ct. 635, 57 L. Ed. 1167, it was held that the mere mixing of smoking opium with the residue of opium that had been smoked and heating the same is not the manufacture of opium for smoking purposes, within the meaning of Act Oct. 1, 1890, c. 1244, 28 Stat. 620. But it will be observed that, after the decision in the Shelley Case, Congress passed the act of January 17, 1914, which reads as follows:

“Every person who prepares opium suitable for smoking purposes from crude gum opium, or from any preparation thereof, or from the residue of smoked or partially smoked opium, commonly known as yen shee, or from any mixture of the above, or any of them, shall be regarded as a manufacturer of smoking opium within the meaning of this act.” 38 Stat. 277, c. 10 (Comp. St. § 6287a).

Under the facts above disclosed, a jury was justified in saying that the plaintiffs in error were preparing smoking opium, or opium suitable for smoking, when they were detected. It appears from the statute quoted that the manufacture of smoking opium may consist of admixing yen shee with other smoking opium, or it may consist of any other preparation of crude gum opium. One who thus mixes these ingredients becomes a manufacturer of smoking opium, and it is thus evident that the same smoking opium may be the subject of more than one preparation for smoking purposes. As before related, the plaintiffs in error, when arrested, were found to have crude gum opium, also smoking opium and yen shee. It was evident, from what was found in the room and all the surrounding circumstances, that the plaintiffs in error were engaged in mixing these ingredients. Thus the jury could say they were engaged in the manufacture, as prohibited by the statute.

The first count of the indictment charges concealment of smoking opium. Since the manufacture was unlawful, the plaintiffs in error, by the same acts and course of conduct, did conceal yen shee and the other ingredients which went to make up their smoking opium, and which they used in their process, and thus were not only guilty of the crime of concealing smoking opium, but also of the crime of manufacturing smoking opium. The jury was justified in finding this from all appearances. Because of this manufacturing statute, to which our attention has been called on the reargument (the act of January 17, 1914), we are of the opinion that the indictments were properly consolidated and tried together. Several charges against the plaintiffs in [329]*329-error for the same act or transaction, or for two or more acts or transactions of the same class of crimes or offenses, may be properly tried together, where two or more indictments have been found and afterwards consolidated. Section 1024, Rev. Stat. (Comp. St. § 1690).

[3] On the trial, the presumption which is created by section 2 of the act of January 17, 1914, was relied upon. It provides as follows:

“Penalty for Unlawful Importation — Possession a.s Evidence.

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Bluebook (online)
266 F. 326, 1920 U.S. App. LEXIS 1691, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/toy-v-united-states-ca2-1920.