United States v. E. Dillingham, Inc.

26 Cust. Ct. 700, 1951 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 741
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedMay 23, 1951
DocketNo. 8004; Entry No. 0-193
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 26 Cust. Ct. 700 (United States v. E. Dillingham, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Customs Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. E. Dillingham, Inc., 26 Cust. Ct. 700, 1951 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 741 (cusc 1951).

Opinion

Cline, Judge:

This is a collector’s appeal for reappraisement of 12 pairs of live chinchillas imported from Canada on July 28, 1948. They were invoiced, entered, and appraised at $25 per animal or a total of $600. They were exported by Intercontinental Chinchilla Co. of Kingston, Ontario, of which Robert W. V. Hanbridge is the proprietor, and were entered at Alexandria Bay, N. Y., by E. Dilling-ham, Inc., customs broker, for the account of E. F. Bowe.

This case was heard at Ogdensburg, N. Y., and at New York, N. Y. At the second hearing a number of documents were marked for identification and decision was reserved as to their admission into evidence. Plaintiff’s exhibit 8 for identification and defendant’s exhibits G, II, I, and J for identification consist of affidavits purporting to state facts in regard to the issues herein. They are admissible under the provisions of section 501 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended by the Customs Administrative Act of 1938, and are to be given such weight by the court as they merit. United States v. Hess Bros. et al., 71 Treas. Dec. 1348, Reap. Dec. 4051; United States v. A. Orlikoff of Mexican Artcraft Co. et al., 25 Cust. Ct. 441, Reap. Dec. 7892. Plaintiff’s exhibit 9 for identification, a report of Customs Agent James F. Malone, is likewise admissible under section 501, supra. Plaintiff’s exhibit 10 for identification consists of copies of the official papers in connection with a subsequent entry of chinchillas purchased by the importer herein from the same vendor. Since there is other evidence in the case in regard to this shipment, the official papers are pertinent and properly admissible. The above documents are therefore admitted into evidence with exception to the losing party in each case.

At the trial John T. Casey, appraiser at the port of Alexandria Bay, testified that prior to the entry herein he had never examined any live chinchillas; that he appraised this importation at $600 because of a misinterpretation of a reply from the Customs Information Exchange which he thought meant that there was no different value rather than that It had no information as to value; that fie talked with Mr. Hanbridge, the shipper, who told him that the . value was $600.

[701]*701Mr. Robert W. V. Hanbridge, called as a witness by tbe plaintiff, testified tbat be is a medical student and a fur rancher; tbat be bas been dealing in chinchillas since tbe end of tbe war in 1945; that be advertised in several daily papers and tbe Fur Trade Journal; and tbat he received a letter of inquiry from E. F. Bowe in April 1948 which be did not answer until July. Tbe letter from Mr. Bowe, dated April 26, 1948 (plaintiff’s exhibit 5), requested wholesale prices of young mated pairs and bred pairs of chinchillas. Mr. Hanbridge’s reply, dated July 20, 1948 (plaintiff’s exhibit 6), stated tbat wholesale prices were from $400 to $700 a pair, subject to 10 per centum discount for cash.

Mr. Hanbridge testified tbat Mr. Bowe visited bis ranch in July 1948; tbat be stated tbat be wanted to purchase pairs with litters; tbat be exhibited 13 or 14 pahs to him and be picked out what be wanted; tbat at tbat time be [Mr. Hanbridge] made a list containing tbe markings which were tattooed in tbe ears of the animals; tbat tbe prices on tbe list were those Mr. Bowe paid; that tbe list was made in duplicate and a copy given to Mr. Bowe. A notation in pencil which Mr. Hanbridge identified as this list was received in evidence as plaintiff’s exhibit 3. It contains a list of lettersjmd number, such as:

COP 146

CCP 3,

a notation under one set of markings “2 young,” tbe date “28 July,” and tbe following:

6 3 pr_$360
4 1 pr_^-$700
14 7 pr__$400
24 animals

Mr. Hanbridge stated tbat tbe letters “CC” in tbe above marking meant Canadian chinchilla; tbat “P” stood for tbe year it was born, 1947; tbat “146” indicated tbat it was tbe 146th animal born on that ranch tbat year.

Mr. Hanbridge testified further that Mr. Bowe did not want to pay for tbe animals until they were across the border; tbat be [Mr. Bowe] suggested “we put in a low figure to save duty”; tbat tbe figure used was the amount of $600 which bad to be paid to tbe Canadian Bank in American currency in order to obtain an export permit from tbe Foreign Exchange Control Board (form B-13); tbat tbe form B-13 for the merchandise herein was prepared by a broker in Kingston, Ontario, in tbe amount of $600; tbat be [Mr. Hanbridge] received $600 in American money and the balance of $3,980 in Canadian money; tbat be delivered tbe animals to Mr. Bowe at tbe border; tbat at tbat time be signed a proforma invoice showing tbe value to be $600; that tbe invoice was false and be knew at tbe time it was false.

[702]*702Prior to this testimony, Mr. Hanbridge had made several contradictory statements to Treasury Attaché Maxwell Northup. In interviews on September 27 and October 6, 1948, he told Mr. Northup that he had charged Mr. Bowe $600 for the 12 pairs of chinchillas involved herein (plaintiff’s exhibit 1); on December 30, 1948, he stated that he could not give Mr. Northup accurate information regarding the prices at which he had sold chinchillas to Mr. Bowe (plaintiff’s exhibit 2); and at a conference on January 15, 1949, he stated that the price was $4,580, made up as follows:

3 pairs @ $360.00 per pair $1,080.00_3 to 5 months age.
1 pair 700.00_2 yrs. old with 2 young.
7 young pair @ $400.00 per pair 2,800.00_born 1947. 7 or 8 mos.,
$4,580.00 to 1 year old.

Subsequently, these prices were incorporated in a consular invoice prepared by Mr. Dillingham, customs broker, and signed by Mr. Hanbridge (plaintiff’s exhibit 4).

At the trial, Mr. Bowe testified that the total purchase price for the 12 pairs was $600; that the animals were of a type known as culls; that culls have practically no value; that he had purchased them for experimental purposes. There is evidence in the record that culls have pointed features like a rat and are not good for pelting or breeding; that they are rough looking and fur chewers; and that they have no value except for experimental purposes. However, Mr. Bowe’s statement that the animals he purchased were culls is not borne out by other evidence in the record. Mr. Agnew, caretaker of the Han-bridge ranch, testified that the animals sold to Mr. Bowe in July 1948 were culls, but he also stated that there were 40 animals on the ranch and about 15 were culls. Therefore, all 24 animals purchased by Mr. Bowe could not have been culls. The affidavits of Melvin Jonas (defendant’s exhibit I) and of Clifford T. Orton (defendant’s exhibit H) are of no value on this point since the animals referred to are described as chinchillas which the affiants had been informed had been purchased by Mr. Bowe in Kingston, Ontario. Moreover, the affidavit of Dr. Orton states that he was employed by Mr. Bowe to perform certain experiments on a portion of a lot of 24 chinchillas which Mr. Bowe said he had purchased in Canada. There is also evidence tending to show that several animals having the same earmarkings as those listed on plaintiff’s exhibit 3 were sold by Mr. Bowe for substantial sums (plaintiff’s exhibit 8).

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Related

E. Dillingham, Inc. v. United States
29 Cust. Ct. 537 (U.S. Customs Court, 1952)

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Bluebook (online)
26 Cust. Ct. 700, 1951 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 741, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-e-dillingham-inc-cusc-1951.