United States v. Bonwit

17 C.C.P.A. 96, 1929 CCPA LEXIS 24
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedJune 11, 1929
DocketNo. 3177
StatusPublished

This text of 17 C.C.P.A. 96 (United States v. Bonwit) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Customs and Patent Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Bonwit, 17 C.C.P.A. 96, 1929 CCPA LEXIS 24 (ccpa 1929).

Opinion

Bland, Judge,

delivered tbe-opinion of tbe court:

Certain enameled silver powder boxes, circular in shape, about 3 inches in diameter and three-quarters of an inch thick, containing a mirror in the lid, valued above 20 cents per dozen, were assessed with duty at 80 per centum ad valorem under the provisions of paragraph 1428 for—

* * * articles valued above 20 cents per dozen pieces, designed to be worn on apparel or carried on or about or attached to the person, such as and includ-jng * * * powder ease§, * * * vanity cases, and like articles; all the foregoing * * * composed of - metal, whether or not enameled, washed, covered, or plated, * * *.

The importer protested and claimed the goods dutiable at 50 per centum ad valorem under the provisions of paragraph 230 for—

* * * all mirrors, not specially provided for, not exceeding in size one hundred and forty-four square inches, with or without frames or cases, * * *.

The court below sustained the protest, from which action the Government has appealed to this court.

In the trial below three witnesses testified.

Robert William McConnochie, manager of the foreign business of appellee, testified that the articles were not designed to be worn on or about the person and that he based his opinion upon their construction, in so far as they were designed to lie flat on the table, and stated that the top was round and the bottom was flat; that, being made of enamel, they could not be carried on or about the person because the enamel would readily break when it came in contact with keys or other hard substances in the pocket; that he had seen these articles used mainly on the dresser of a lady; that he did not sell this article; that he bought abroad; that they contained a mirror and a place for powder, both in solid and compact form; that the pad used was a small round chamois pad; that his company sells refills for the merchandise; that he had seen lots of the articles broken, only two of which were broken from being in a bag; that he had seen as many as [98]*9850 broken in the store and that his firm handled probably 100,000 vanities per year; that he had a large family, three boys, and three girls, and he had seen this character of vanity repeatedly on his girls’ dresser and on his wife’s dresser; that he had also seen his wife’s pocketbook on the dresser; that a vanity case was “a more complete affair for the toilet” than the merchandise at bar; that most of them contained lipsticks, perfumery, and other things.

Elenor V. Cramer, Government’s witness, stated that she had been familiar with these articles ever since she used powder; that she had used a similar article which was probably not so elaborate; that it had an enamel surface and contained a mirror; that she used hers more out of her home than in her home and had seen other ladies use them away from home; that she had frequently seen them carried in hand bags and pocketbooks and carried hers that way; that hers was not flat on one side and not as large as the one at bar, but that it was heavy; that many girls she traveled with used enameled powder boxes similar to these with a mirror as large as this which had a fiat bottom and oval top; that she didn’t think it proper to put the person’s name into the record. At this point a colloquy between Mr. Justice Brown and the witness took place as follows:

Justice Brown. The ones you have seen were not as expensive as that?
Witness. They were not as expensive as that. T don’t know how much they are. I have seen them with that same kind of material.
Justice BROWN. Do you know where you saw that one you just described and the person by whom carried?
Witness. I said I did not want to get the person’s name in the minutes.
Justice Brown. We must naturally have the name, because counsel would be entitled to put that person on the stand. Unless you give the name, I will have to grant a motion to strike out your testimony.
Witness. I don’t want to give anybody else’s name.
Mr. Bevans. I move that the testimony of this witness be stricken out. •
Justice Brown. All right; it will-be stricken out.

To this ruling the Government duly excepted and made such action the basis of one of its assignments of error here.

Madeline Jaffe testified for the Government that she had been familiar with this kind of merchandise for about six years and that it was used by girls and women in women’s dressing rooms and on trains, at theaters, and at dance parties; that she had seen them used in places other than in the home during her entire experience; that loose powder is preferred for the home and that a compact is more convenient; that if loose powder is used at places other than at home, it is held in the box by sifters; that some of the boxes she had seen were of the size of the exhibits before her; that all vanities or powder boxes that she had seen contained mirrors corresponding in all material respects to the ones at bar; that they had flat bottoms and were enameled; that she would call these articles vanities and that the vanities do not necessarily consist of more articles than are con-[99]*99tamed in the exhibits at bar; that sbe had never seen this kind of box used on ladies’ dressing tables.

An examination of the exhibits shows that the tops and the bottoms of the boxes are slightly convex, the convexity of the tops being more pronounced than that of the bottoms. It is suggested by the Government that the articles may have been made in this manner in order that the carrier might easily distinguish the top from the bottom, when it was necessary to open same.

The first division of the United States Customs Court, grounding its opinion chiefly on Borgfeldt v. United States, T. D. 42098, 51 Treas. Dec. 412, held that paragraph 230 specially provided for the merchandise at bar and that it was dutiable thereunder. In the course, of the decision the court used the following language:

The mirrors in frames or cases may be carried on the person; they may be-carried in a hand bag or in the pocket. Yet that would not cause these powder-boxes, containing, as they do, a mirror, to fall within the provision of paragraph 1428 heretofore quoted. They may be intended to be carried on or about or-attached to the person, but that general designation fails when confronted with the specific provision in paragraph 230 covering all mirrors with or without frames- or cases.

We think the court below clearly erred in striking out the testimony-of Elenor V. Cramer. Her refusal to give the name of the person whom she had seen carrying one of the boxes referred to would go to-the weight of her testimony, and might be grounds for punitive action by the court, but we know of no law warranting the striking out of competent testimony already given, without objection, merely-because a witness declined to divulge a name. This action on the part of the court, if the issue was not determinable without the stricken evidence, would be reversible error.

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Related

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3 Ct. Cust. 224 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1912)
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7 Ct. Cust. 203 (Customs and Patent Appeals, 1916)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
17 C.C.P.A. 96, 1929 CCPA LEXIS 24, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-bonwit-ccpa-1929.