United States v. Cleveland

281 F. 249, 1922 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1478
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Alabama
DecidedMay 18, 1922
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 281 F. 249 (United States v. Cleveland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Cleveland, 281 F. 249, 1922 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1478 (S.D. Ala. 1922).

Opinion

ERVIN, District Judge.

In this case there are two questions, primarily presented by the demurrers, on which I baSe my ruling, one question to each count of the indictment, which indictment contains only two counts. The first count charges that—

“Thomas Cleveland did unlawfully manufacture, sell, barter, transport, deliver, furnish, and possess certain intoxicating liquors, which were then and there prohibited and unlawful.”

The second count charges the same defendant—

“did unlawfully have and possess, to wit, 33 half pints of illicit liquor intended for use in violation of title 2 of the National Prohibition Act passed October 28, 1919; that is to say, intended for use as intoxicating beverages, which was then and there prohibited and unlawful.”

While there are various grounds of demurrer to 'each count of the indictment, I base my ruling on one question as to each count. As to the first count of the indictment objection is made that the count charges the defendant with several separate offenses, as to which the provisions of the National Prohibition Act provide differing punishments. The objection to the second count is that the charge is that the liquor possessed by the defendant was intended for use in violation of title 2 of the Prohibition Act, without declaring what particular prohibited use under said act was intended, and further that the manner in which the possession of the liquor by defendant is alleged states no legal offense, in that no particular place where it was possessed is alleged.

In order to call attention to the special language used in the various questions which I am called upon to construe in the National Prohibition Act (41 Stat. 305), I have italicized certain words in the various quotations which I am making from the act, so as to bring out the emphasis which I give to. these words in the act. As much of section 3 of the National Prohibition Act as necessary to quote reads as follows :

Title 2, section 3: “No person shall on or after the date when the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States goes into effect, manufacture, sell, barter, transport, import, export, deliver, furnish or possess any intoxicating liquor except as authorised in this act, and all the provisions of [251]*251this act shall be liberally construed to the end that the use of intoxicating liquor as a beverage may be prevented.”

Section 29 reads as follows:

“Any person who manufactures or sells liquor in violation of this title shall for a first offense be fined not more than $1,000, or imprisoned not exceeding six months, and for a second or subsequent offense shall be fined not less than $200 nor more than $2,000 and be imprisoned not less than one month nor more than five years.
“Any person violating the provisions of any permit, or who makes any false record, report, or affidavit required by this title, or violates any of the provisions of this title, for which offense a special penalty is not prescribed, shall be fined for a first offense not more than $500; for a second offense not less than $100 nor more than $1,000, or be imprisoned not more than ninety days; for any subsequent offense he shall be fined not less than $500 and be imprisoned not less than three months nor more than two years.”

[ 1 ] It will be noticed that, while section 3 declares the offense, section 29 provides the punishment therefor, and when we examine section 29 we find that for the manufacture or sale of liquor the punishment for the first offense shall be a fine not exceeding $100 or imprisonment not exceeding six months, while for the other offenses, such as transporting, importing, exporting, delivering, furnishing, or possessing intoxicating liquors, the first offense is punished by a fine of not exceeding $500, without any provision by which imprisonment can be imposed, and the second offense may be punished by not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 or by imprisonment not more than 90 days, and for any subsequent offense may be fined not less than $500 and by imprisonment not less than three months nor more than two years.

• It will thus be noticed that the punishments provided for making and selling liquor are entirely different from those for the other offenses enumerated in the act, not only for the first offense, but a second or subsequent offense. If the jury render a verdict of guilty under the first count of the indictment, which includes the charge of making and selling, as well as of transporting, delivering, furnishing, and possessing liquors, how can the court properly impose a punishment because the court has no way of ascertaining whether the conviction was for the offense of making or selling liquor or on the other charges.

Leaving out of view at present the fact that the offenses are different, and looking merely to the question of punishment as provided by law, I feel that I must sustain the demurrer, because I would have no way of determining the fact what offense I would be imposing punishment for. It is urged upon me that section 32 of the act covers the question. It reads as follows:

“In any affidavit, information, or indictment for the violation of this act, separate offenses may be united in separate counts and the defendant may be tried on all at one trial and the penalty for all offenses may be imposed. It shall not be necessary in any affidavit, information, or indictment to give the name of the purchaser or to include any defensive negative averments, but it shall be sufficient to state that the act complained of was then and there prohibited and unlawful, but this provision shall not be construed to preclude the trial court from directing the furnishing the defendant a bill of particulars when it deems it proper to do so.”

In reading this section I find authority for the indictment to contain as many separate counts as offenses may have been committed, but each [252]*252offense should be charged in separate counts though they may all be-tried at one time. This certainly gives no authority to write more than one offense in one count, but if the act is controlling requires a separate count for each offense.

[2] I come now to consider the objection to the second count where the charge is the possession by the defendant of 33 half pints of illicit liquor intended for use as intoxicating beverages. Here we will need to consider, with sections 3 and 32 above quoted, section 33, which reads as follows:

“After February 1, 1920, the possession of liquors by any person not legally permitted under this title to possess liq-uor shall be prima facie evidence that such liquor is kept for the purpose of being sold, bartered, exchanged, given away, furnished, or otherwise disposed of in violation of the provisions of this title. Every person legally permitted under this title to have liquor shall report to the commissioner within ten days after the date when the Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States goes into effect, the kind and amount of intoxicating liquors in his possession.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
281 F. 249, 1922 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1478, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-cleveland-alsd-1922.