United States v. Davidson

50 F.2d 517, 1931 U.S. App. LEXIS 4507, 1931 A.M.C. 1999
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedJune 10, 1931
DocketNo. 2549
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 50 F.2d 517 (United States v. Davidson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Davidson, 50 F.2d 517, 1931 U.S. App. LEXIS 4507, 1931 A.M.C. 1999 (1st Cir. 1931).

Opinion

BINGHAM, Circuit Judge.

This is a libel of information filed in the District Court of Rhode Island to forfeit the gas screw yacht Eaglet, licensed December 23, 1929, as a pleasure vessel of the United States, to George Davidson, her sole owner. In the libel, among other things, it is alleged that the Eaglet was seized by the Coast Guard on the 1st day of June, 1930, on the navigable waters of the United States, to wit, on the east side of Kickemuit river, at or near its ¡junction with Mount Hope Bay, in said district, and within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the court; that on June 4 the vessel was turned over to the collector of customs of the port of Providence in said district, who, before the filing of the libel, adopted the seizure and now holds said Eaglet in said district and within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the court as forfeited for violation of section 4214 of the Revised Statutes, as amended, and section 4377 of the Revised Statutes.

The allegations of the first count of the libel are that before and at the time of said seizure (June 1, 1930, the Eaglet, being licensed and enrolled as a pleasure vessel as provided in section 4214, as amended (title 46, USCA § 103), was engaged in transporting merchandise for pay contrary to the provisions of said section, and that, by reason of the foregoing and the provisions of said section 4214 as amended, said Eaglet became liable to seizure and forfeiture.

In count 2 it is alleged that before and at the time of the seizure the Eaglet, being then and there licensed and enrolled as a pleasure vessel, was employed in a trade other than that for which she was licensed, in that she was employed in the trade of unlawfully transporting intoxicating liquor containing more than one-half óf 1 per cent, of alcohol fit for beverage purposes, and that, by reason of the foregoing and the provisions of section 4377 of the Revised Statutes (46 USCA § 325), the Eaglet became liable to seizure and forfeiture.

June 17,1930, George Davidson appeared and filed a claim as owner. In it he asked the court to release the vessel on bond, under section 938 of the Revised Statutes (title 28 USCA § 751), and supported his claim by an affidavit that he was the sole owner, and that, at the time of the seizure, no person was arrested in connection with the charge against the vessel. July 2,1930, an order was entered for the release of the vessel on bond, and on July 30, 1930, the appellant excepted to the order.

‘ August 4, 1930, the claimant filed an answer and exceptions, in which he admitted that the Eaglet was licensed and enrolled as a pleasure vessel of the United States: denied that she was seized on the navigable waters of the United States within the District by the Coast Guard; denied that before the filing of the libel the collector of customs had adopted the seizure, and that, at the time of the filing of the libel, held the Eaglet within the district and within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the court.

As to the first ground of forfeiture, the claimant denied that before and at the time of the seizure the Eaglet was engaged in transporting merchandise for pay, and that she became liable to seizure and condemnation by reason of section 4214, and denied that all the allegations were true and within the civil, admiralty, and maritime jurisdiction of the court.

As to the second ground, the claimant denied that before and at the time of seizure the Eaglet was employed in a trade other than that for which she was licensed, that is [519]*519to say, that, being licensed as a pleasure vessel, she was then and there employed in an illegal trade, to wit, the trade of transport-! ing intoxicating liquor, etc. ; denied that, by; virtue of the foregoing and the provisions of section 4377 of the Revised Statutes, she' became liable to seizure and forfeiture; and denied that all and singly the premises were true and within the civil, admiralty, and maritime jurisdiction of the court; and, as an exception, alleged that the vessel was not seized on the navigable waters of the United States and that the court was without jurisdiction in admiralty.

A hearing was had on the libel and answer. The claimant presented no evidence. The government’s evidence was that, at about five minutes of 4 on the morning of June 1, 1930, the Eaglet was observed running without lights into a slip at Pall river; that immediately thereafter trucks were observed on the dock beside the slip and men were seen unloading sacks from the vessel to one of the trucks; that the Coast Guard vessel C. G. 283, having her searchlights turned on, attempted to enter the slip, and, when twenty-five feet away fired one blank from her gun for the Eaglet to stand to; that the Eaglet got under way and collided with the Coast Guard 283 in leaving the slip; that, as she was leaving the slip, men on board the Eaglet were seen throwing sacks overboard into the slip; that the Eaglet was pursued into the Kiekemuit river in Rhode Island; that in the pursuit the Coast Guard 283 ran aground on a point of land; that the Eaglet rounded this point and after being out of sight of the 283 for fifteen minutes she was found beaehed in Rhode Island; that her crew had departed; and that the Coast Guard seized and took possession of the Eaglet at 5 a. m. Coast Guardsman Pressel testified that, when he first boarded the Eaglet in the morning, she was wholly in the water, and at 5:30 that morning, when the Coast Guard left her, she was afloat in the waters of Kiekemuit river; that, on the morning of the seizure, 243 saeks were taken from the bottom of the river at a point about 200 feet astern of the Eaglet; that, in the afternoon of the same day, Coast Guardsmen Beaudoin and Pressel returned to the Kiekemuit river and found the Eaglet with her bow on shore and the aft part of the vessel in the water. There was no testimony that any member of the Coast Guard had been on board the boat since they left her in the morning, when she was out in the stream, until they returned in the afternoon. No liquor was found on board the vessel. Two days following the seizure, Edgeeomb, one of the Coast Guard on C. G. 283, recovered seven saeks of liquor from the slip at the place where he had seen the crew of the Eaglet drop saeks overboard. He testified that none of the Coast Guard saw any of the saeks thrown from the Eaglet in Kiekemuit river which they found at a point about 200 feet from her stern. The deputy collector of customs, to whom the saeks were turned over, testified that the seven saeks recovered from the slip bore the brand “William Penn Whiskey,” and that the brand on these saeks corresponded with the brand on the 243 saeks recovered from the Kiekemuit river.

At the hearing one of the seven saeks was opened; none of the seven saeks had been previously opened. The bottles in this sack were marked “William Penn Whiskey.” None of the bottles had been opened, and the district attorney asked permission to open one so that the court might smell it, but was not permitted to do so. The deputy collector, called as a witness and having one of the bottles before him, was asked: “What is it? Do you know?” and answered: “That is William Penn Rye Whiskey.” Two bottles , of the. William Penn whisky were offered in evidence, but, on objection, were excluded, to which exception was taken. There was also testimony that all of the seven saeks were marked “William Penn Whiskey,” the same as the one that was opened.

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Bluebook (online)
50 F.2d 517, 1931 U.S. App. LEXIS 4507, 1931 A.M.C. 1999, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-davidson-ca1-1931.