United States v. Siden

293 F. 422, 1923 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1229
CourtDistrict Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedOctober 11, 1923
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 293 F. 422 (United States v. Siden) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Siden, 293 F. 422, 1923 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1229 (mnd 1923).

Opinion

McGFF, District Judge.

The information filed on May 1, 1923, by the district attorney charges the defendant with having made a sale of intoxicating liquor in a secondhand store conducted by him at 705 West Superior street, in the city of Duluth, Minn., on the 19th day of November, 1922, and with having had intoxicating liquor in his possession at the same place on the 1st day of December, 1922, both in violation of the provisions of the National Prohibition Act (41 Stat. 305). _ " '

_ The case was tried on the 14th and 15tli days of August, 1923, and resulted in a verdict of guilty on both counts. The sentences imposed were:

(1) A fine of $500 on the first or possession count, with imprisonment in the county jail of Washington county until the fine was paid or the defendant was otherwise discharged in due course of law; and

(2) Imprisonment in the county jail of Washington county, Minn., for a term of 5 months and 25 days on the second or sale count.

The case is now before me on a petition for the allowance of a writ of error and supersedeas.

I. The first assignment of error is:

“That the court erred in denying the motion of the plaintiff in error for an order quashing the first count of the information, when said motion was presented to the court after the jury was sworn, but before any testimony was offered on the part of the government, and when it appeared from the records of said court in said case that the evidence on which said count and said indictment fin formation?] was based was obtained by a search of the premises occupied by the plaintiff in error and the seizure thereon of certain property in violation of the rights guaranteed to plaintiff in error by the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and section 10, article 1, of the Constitution of the state of Minnesota; it being also respectfully submitted that the records of said court showed that the search warrant under the authority of which the agents of the United States government acted in searching the premises of the plaintiff in error on December 1, 1922, was invalid and of no effect, because the search and seizure aforesaid were made in the nighttime, and the direction of the Prohibition Director that said search warrant might be served in the nighttime was not based upon an affidavit, as required by section 10 of title XI of the Act of July 15, 1917, or any other provision of the National Prohibition Act, and that said search warrant was actually executed in the nighttime, and the affidavits upon which said search warrant was issued were not sufficient to authorize the direction contained [424]*424in said search, warrant that it be served in the nighttime; it being respectfully submitted that such procedure on the part of agents and officers of the government was in violation of the rights of the plaintiff in error as guaranteed to him by the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution of the United States and in violation of sections 6 and 10, article 1, of the Constitution of the state of Minnesota.”

As stated in the first assignment of error, the defendant, after the jury was sworn, .and before any testimony was taken, moved to quash the first or possession count of the information, on a showing of fact presented in the form of affidavits, which motion was denied, and an exception duly noted. A bill of exceptions was settled and signed, and is a part of the record, and consists,of the reporter’s transcript only. What ffie.oshowing of fact made by the affidavits was does not appear from the record due to a failure to incorporate the same in the bill of exceptions, so that the appellate court, if a writ of error were allowed, would have no means of knowing whether the foundation laid for the search warrant was or was not that indicated by tire language of the assignment of error in question. In Reed v. Gardner, 17 Wall. 409, 411 (21 L. Ed. 665), it is said:

“It bas been frequently held by this court that, in passing upon tbe questions presented in a bill of exceptions, it will not look beyond tbe bill itself. Norris v. Jackson, 9 Wall. 125; Lincoln v. Claflin, 7 Wall. 136; Leftwieh v. Lecanu, 4 Wall. 187; Russell v. Ely, 2 Black, 580. Tbe pleadings, and tbe statements of tbe bill, tbe verdict, and tbe judgment, are tbe only matters that are properly before tbe court. Depositions, exhibits, or certificates, not contained in tbe bill, cannot be considered by tbe court. Tbe case of Flanders v. Tweed was exceptional. Tbe court intend to adhere to this practice. Under this rule there is, then, nothing whatever in tbe present case for tbe court to pass upon. It is impossible, upon a record such as this is, that we should know whether tbe charge is correct or erroneous, or whether the refusals to charge as requested were justified, or whether they were improper. As already said, there is absolutely nothing presented to this court for consideration.”

In McGrath v. U. S. (C. C. A. 2) 275 Fed. 294, 296, it was said:

“The record technically consists of the indictment, the bill of exceptions, and the judgment. The absence from the record of the bill of exceptions, therefore, simply precludes the court from passing on questions raised at the trial, which the bill of exceptions might have brought here if one had been introduced into the record. Its absence does not, however, deprive us of the right to pass on the sufficiency of -the indictment or the judgment. We are obliged to decide this case as though there was no demurrer to the indictment, no motion to quash, no motion for a new trial or in arrest of judgment. * * * We have no information concerning these matters. The sole question before us, under the circumstances, is whether the indictment fails to state' facts sufficient to constitute the crime charged. If it thus fails, then, of course, it is the duty of the court to set aside the judgment. But if the facts alleged are sufficient to sustain the indictment, the judgment must be affirmed. Sonnenberg v. United States (C. C. A. 2) 264 Fed. 327.”

The case is exactly in point, because, although there was no bill of exceptions in the case cited, and there is one in the present case, the fact remains that the first assignment of error must be disposed of as though there" had been none, because it does not include the search warrant and evidence upon which it was issued, the motion papers and supporting affidavits presented to the court on the motion to quash the [425]*425first count, and therefore the record on this point presents no question that could be considered by the appellate court if a writ of error were allowed.

IL The second assignment of error is:

“That the court erred In oyerruling defendant’s objection to the introduction of the following evidence on behalf of the government and denying the motion of defendant to strike as follows:
“ ‘Q. But you had no particular place in mind at that time, when you were walking west? A. Not until we got down somewheres close to his place, and Carlson suggested that we walk in there.
“ ‘Mr. Goldberg: I move what Carlson suggested be stricken, as not responsive, and what he said is not binding upon the defendant.
“ ‘The Court: Motion denied.
“‘Mr. Goldberg: Exception.’
“Transcript, bottom page 22 and top of page 23.”

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Bluebook (online)
293 F. 422, 1923 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1229, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-siden-mnd-1923.