United States v. Covington

16 Ohio Misc. 236
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedMarch 27, 1968
DocketCrim. No. 9041
StatusPublished

This text of 16 Ohio Misc. 236 (United States v. Covington) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Covington, 16 Ohio Misc. 236 (S.D. Ohio 1968).

Opinion

KiNNeary, District Judge.

Defendant is charged by indictment with being a transferee of and acquiring a quantity of marihuana without having paid the tax imposed by law, in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 4744(a) (1).

Following his plea of not guilty upon arraignment, defendant filed a motion to dismiss the indictment. In its consideration of this motion, the court has had the assistance of the supporting and contra memoranda.

Title 26, United States Code, Section 4741(a) provides:

“(a) Rate. There shall be imposed upon all transfers of marihuana which are required by section 4742 to be carried out in pursuance of written order forms taxes at the following rates:
“ (1) Transfers to special taxpayers. Upon each transfer to any person who has paid the special tax and registered under Sections 4751 to 4753, inclusive, $1 per ounce of marihuana or fraction thereof.
“(2) Transfers to others. Upon each transfer to any person who has not paid the special tax and registered under Sections 4751 to 4753, inclusive, $100 per ounce of marihuana or fraction thereof. * * *”

Section 4742, which forms the basis for determining taxable transfers, provides:

“(a) General requirement. It shall be unlawful for any person, whether or not required to pay a special tax and register under Sections 4751 to 4753, inclusive, to transfer marihuana, except in pursuance of a written order of the person to whom such marihuana is transferred, on a form to be issued in blank for that purpose by the Secretary or his delegate.
“(b) Exceptions. Subject to such regulations as the Secretary or his delegate may prescribe, nothing contained in this section shall apply—
“(1) Professional practice. — To a transfer of mari-[238]*238linaria to a patient by a physician, dentist, veterinary surgeon, or other practitioner registered under Section 4753, in the course of his professional practice only: Provided, that such physician, dentist, veterinary surgeon, or other practitioner shall keep a record of all such marihuana transferred, showing the amount transferred and the name and address of the patient to whom such marihuana is transferred, and such record shall be kept for a period of 2 years from the date of the transfer of such marihuana, and subject to inspection as provided in Section 4773.
“(2) Prescriptions. — -To a transfer of marihuana, made in good faith by a dealer to a consumer under and in pursuance of a written proscription issued by a physician, dentist, veterinary surgeon, or other practitioner registered under Section 4753: Provided, that such prescription shall be dated as of the day on which signed and shall be signed by the physician, dentist, veterinary surgeon, or other practitioner who issues the same:
“Provided further, That such dealer shall preserve such prescription for a period of 2 years from the day on which such prescription is filled, so as to be readily accessible for inspection by the officers, employees, and officials mentioned in Section 4773.
“(3) Exportation.- — To the sale, exportation, shipment, or delivery of marihuana by any person within the United States, any territory, the District of Columbia, or any of the insular possessions of the United States, to any person in any foreign country regulating the entry of marihuana, if such sale, shipment, or delivery of marihuana is made in accordance with such regulations for importation into such foreign country as are prescribed by such foreign country, such regulations to be promulgated from time to time by the Secretary of State of the United States.
“(4) Government and state officials. — To a transfer of marihuana to any officer or employee of the United States Government or of any state, territorial, district, county, or municipal or insular government lawfully engaged in making purchases thereof for the Department [239]*239of Defense, the Public Health Service, and for government, state, territorial, district, county, or municipal or insular hospitals or prisons.
“ (5) Certain seeds. — To a transfer of any seeds of the plant Cannabis sativa L. to any person registered under Section 4753. * * *”

Failure to pay the tax imposed is a violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 4744(a) (1):

“ (a) Persons in general. It shall be unlawful for any person who is a transferee required to pay the transfer tax imposed by Section 4741(a)—
“(1) to acquire or otherwise obtain any marihuana without having paid such tax * *

The basis of defendant’s motion is the allegation that the foregoing statutory scheme is, at least as to him, viola-tive of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution in that it requires a person to incriminate himself.

What has evidently prompted this motion is a group of decisions recently entered by the United States Supreme Court. Marchetti v. United States (Jan. 29, 1968), 390 U. S. 39, 43 O. O. 2d 215, 88 S. Ct. 697, 19 L. Ed. 2d 889; Grosso v. United States (Jan. 29, 1968), 390 U. S. 62, 43 O. O. 2d 226, 88 S. Ct. 709, 19 L. Ed. 2d 906; Haynes v. United States (Jan. 29, 1968), 390 U. S. 85, 88 S. Ct. 722, 19 L. Ed. 2d 923. In those cases it was determined that criminal prosecutions under the statutes imposing the annual occupational tax on gamblers,1 the requirement to register before engaging in the business of accepting wagers,2 the excise tax on wagering,3 and a criminal penalty on possessors of “unregistered firearms”4 were each subject to an absolute defense in the form of an assertion that the statute was unconstitutional inasmuch as each one had the effect of compelling the respective defendants, and others similarly situated, to incriminate themselves. The questioned statutes required disclosure of past, present or [240]*240prospective activities in areas “permeated with criminal statutes.” Marchetti, supra. Compliance with any of the statutory requirements was directed at persons inherently suspect of criminal activities and created real, appreciable and substantial hazards of self-incrimination. Ibid. The hazards were particularly emphasized by the further statutory requirement that a list of all such taxpayers be made available for public inspection. Title 26, United States Code, Section 6107.5

A reading of the statutory tax scheme presently in question discloses that it, like those previously declared “unconstitutional, ’ raises more than merely imaginary hazards of self-incrimination. The hazards here are likewise real, appreciable and substantial, and the statutory requirements, with the many exclusions, are primarily directed at those who are inherently suspect of criminal activities.6 [241]

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Related

United States v. Sullivan
274 U.S. 259 (Supreme Court, 1927)
Shapiro v. United States
335 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1948)
United States v. Sanchez
340 U.S. 42 (Supreme Court, 1950)
Albertson v. Subversive Activities Control Board
382 U.S. 70 (Supreme Court, 1966)
Marchetti v. United States
390 U.S. 39 (Supreme Court, 1968)
Grosso v. United States
390 U.S. 62 (Supreme Court, 1968)
Haynes v. United States
390 U.S. 85 (Supreme Court, 1968)

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Bluebook (online)
16 Ohio Misc. 236, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-covington-ohsd-1968.