United States v. Mayfield

177 F. 765, 1910 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 374
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Alabama
DecidedMarch 11, 1910
DocketNo. 1,679
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 177 F. 765 (United States v. Mayfield) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.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. Mayfield, 177 F. 765, 1910 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 374 (N.D. Ala. 1910).

Opinion

GRUBB, District Judge

(charging jury). The defendants in this case are charged with having violated certain provisions of what is known as the “Food and Drugs Act” — an act passed by Congress in 1906 (Act June 30,1906, c. 3915, 34 Stat. 768 [U. S. Comp. St. Supp. 1909, p. 1187]) — the purpose of which was to protect consumers against impure and adulterated foods and drugs, and also against the use of foods or drugs which do not show what they contain by the brands on the package. Congress did not have any power to make this law concerning matters relating to commerce entirely within one state, but only as to commerce between one state and another state. The states themselves have the exclusive power to regulate their own internal commerce. So the prohibition of this act is directed only against the introduction into interstate commerce of any article of food or drink, or of any drug, either adulterated or misbranded. These two acts — adulteration and misbranding — are made offenses when they occur in an article which is introduced into interstate commerce. Now, you will see that the first proposition in this case will be whether or not this shipment was one of an interstate character. This proposition is simplified for your consideration, however, by the admission that this particular jug, which is made the subject of this prosecution, was shipped from Birmingham, Ala., to New Orleans, La. Therefore it. is conceded that it was introduced into interstate commerce by some' one. Now.,, as I say, the prohibition is against the introduction into interstate commerce of any article of food which is either misbranded or adulterated. I charg-e you that the shipment in this case was a food product within the meaning of the act of Congress.

In order to make out a case under the first count of the information, which charges misbranding, three things would be necessary for you to believe from the evidence, and be3'ond a reasonable doubt. The first is that there was in the shipment some constituent which should have been, and was not, shown by the brand. The act itself defines what constitutes misbranding in some respects. If the article shipped-contains cocaine, and that fact is not indicated b3>- the brand, then (lie failure to so indicate its presence by the brand is defined to be misbranding. In order to convict on this count, you would have to find that there was cocaine in the jug which went to New Orleans, and that there was nothing on the jug which indicated that it contained cocaine, and that the defendants or some one .or more of them were responsible for the introduction of that jug into interstate commerce. These three things you would have to be convinced of beyond a-reasonable doubt to convict under the first count of this information. Now as to the presence of cocaine in this liquid there seems to be little dispute. The government experts testified that it was there, and there is no contradiction of this fact by the defendants. Therefore, if the testimony of the government experts convinces you be3rond a reasonable doubt of the [767]*767presence of cocaine in this, liquid — ai;d you have no right to reject their testimony capriciously and without good cause — this fact is sufficiently established. It is conceded that this jug had no brand upon it indicating the presence of cocaine in the liquid in the jug.

Then, the next proposition for you to consider is whether or not these defendants were responsible for the introduction of this shipment into interstate commerce. It is admitted that this jug was introduced into interstate commerce by some one. The evidence shows that the order on which the jug was shipped was received by the Birmingham Celery Cola Company, and by it filled by shipping the jug from Birmingham to New Orleans. Clearly, the Birmingham Celery Cola Company primarily introduced this shipment into interstate commerce. The corporation, however, is not informed against in this prosecution. A corporation acts only by agents. The law is that, if any agent does an illegal act on behalf of his principal, he makes not only the principal liable for his act, but himself as well. An agent cannot shift the responsibility for wrongdoing altogether from his own shoulders onto those of his principal. If the act was illegal, the manager who filled the order and shipped the stuff would be responsible, even though his responsibility was shared by his principal. The manager is not informed against in this prosecution, however. The men who are informed against are stockholders and officers of the company. So far as the mere fact of their being officers and stockholders in the corporation is concerned, I charge you that it does not make them responsible in this prosecution; but their responsibility depends altogether upon whether or not they conferred on the manag’er the authority to ship Celery Cola from one state into another; and whether the shipment upon which this prosecution is based was made by the manager pursuant to the authority so conferred.

The question for you to inquire into is whether or not the defendants are shown by the evidence, to your satisfaction, to have given the manager the authority to do what he did in shipping this Celery Cola out of Birmingham to New Orleans. If, from the evidence, you are satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that this authority was conferred upon him by the defendants, then they would be just as responsible as the manager of the Birmingham Celery Cola Company. The evidence tends to show that Celery Cola had been shipped during the time from January 1, 1908, until the date of the shipment on which was based this prosecution, which was some time in October of that year. It also tends to show that when this company began to get into financial difficulty, the defendants secured the manager to take charge of the plant, operate it, and sell its product. That much is conceded by both sides. There is also evidence tending to show that they told the manager expressly to sell the Celery Cola on hand. And I take it that the operation of the plant and the conduct of the business would imply the authority in the manager to sell its product of whatsoever kind. I think that it is to be fairly inferred that the authority conferred on the manager by the defendants was that he carry on the business and dispose of the product as it had been done according to the previous course, of business. If the authority of the manager, so conferred, was not expressly restricted to sales made in Alabama, and ac[768]*768cording to the previous course of business sales had been made to other states, a fair inference would be that the manager was authorized by defendants to conduct an interstate traffic in Celery Cola. So, if the previous course of business had been to sell without branding the packages as containing cocaine, a fair inference would be that the manager was authorized by these defendants to conduct the business without such branding. The fact that the defendants in their testimony denied knowledge that Celery Cola contained cocaine is evidence that the previous course of business of the company had been to sell it without branding it as containing cocaine. If general authority was conferred on the manager by the defendants to sell Celery Cola, when he took charge, it would not be necessary that express authority be given him to fill each order.- Until the authority was revoked, it would cover all shipments without renewal on the occasion of each shipment.

The Celery Cola extract was manufactured in St. Louis, and shipped by the manufacturers to the company of which defendants were officers at Birmingham.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Ex Parte Taylor
636 So. 2d 1246 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1993)
Ex Parte Harper
594 So. 2d 1181 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1991)
United States v. Park
421 U.S. 658 (Supreme Court, 1975)
United States v. H. L. Moore Drug Exchange, Inc.
239 F. Supp. 256 (D. Connecticut, 1965)
United States v. Dotterweich
320 U.S. 277 (Supreme Court, 1943)
United States v. Buffalo Pharmacal Co.
131 F.2d 500 (Second Circuit, 1942)
United States v. Commercial Creamery Co.
43 F. Supp. 714 (E.D. Washington, 1942)
People v. Carril
41 P.R. 266 (Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, 1930)
Pueblo v. Carril
41 P.R. Dec. 266 (Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, 1930)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
177 F. 765, 1910 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 374, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-mayfield-alnd-1910.