92 S.E. 373 | N.C. | 1917
The defendants were indicted for receiving more than 1 quart of spirituous liquor, under Public Laws 1915, ch. 97, sec. 2, which is as follows: "That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation at any one time or in any one package to receive at a point within the State of North Carolina for his or her use or for the use of any person, firm, or corporation, or for any other purpose, any spirituous or vinous liquors or intoxicating bitters in a quantity greater than 1 quart, or any malt liquors in a quantity greater than 5 gallons." They were convicted and appealed. *826 The verdict is well supported by the evidence, even the defendants' own testimony. They admitted that they had bought (768) a glass jug containing 1 gallon of whiskey, and also 4 quarts in separate bottles, from a man who was driving an automobile about 3 miles from Cherryville in Gaston County, and that it was delivered to and received by them. They put it in their buggy and it was found in their possession by the officers, who were searching for them, having received information that they had the liquor. The defendants contend, though, "that the context of the act indicates that receiving as an aid to the unlawful transportation of liquor is the evil which the Legislature intended to prohibit." But the first section of the chapter provides that "It shall be unlawful for any one to transport, carry, or deliver, in any manner or by any means whatsoever, for hire or otherwise, in any one package, or at any one time, from a point within or without the State, to any other person, firm, or corporation in this State, any spirituous liquors . . . in a quantity greater than 1 quart . . . and it shall be unlawful for any spirituous liquors . . . so shipped, transported, carried, or delivered in any one package to be contained in more than one receptacle." (Italics ours.) It will be observed in reading the statute, that in section 2 there is no reference to section 1, and it is contended, therefore, that it creates a separate and distinct offense; but whether this be true or not, the receiving of liquor under the circumstances stated in the indictment and detailed in the proof would be an aid to the unlawful transportation, carriage, or delivery of the liquor. We do not perceive how the statute can be unconstitutional and void, even if the receipt of the liquor is "incidental to a purchase of it," where the sale was an unlawful one, as it was in this instance. The case falls within the plain and unmistakable terms of the statute. It is not necessary that the receipt should have been from one who had transported, carried, or delivered the liquor in interstate commerce, because the statute clearly embraces a carriage and delivery when they are acts done wholly within the State. It would seem that the person in the automobile, from whom the defendants purchased the liquor, was an itinerant dealer, acting in open violation of the law. While this does not play any very important part in the determination of the case as to its legal aspects, it discloses an evil against which the Legislature was evidently providing.
We have often held that a statute, even one of a criminal nature, when ambiguous, should receive a reasonable construction, so as to ascertain *827 the intention of its framers and to suppress the mischief against which it is directed. When the meaning is plain, as in this case, there is no room for construction. We merely interpret it as it is written and clearly expressed.
The Court recently said in Caminetti v. U.S., 37 Supreme Court Rep., 193: "It is elementary that the meaning of a statute must, in the first instance, be sought in the language in which the act is framed, (769) and if that is plain, and if the law is within the constitutional authority of the law-making body which passed it, the sole function of the courts is to enforce it according to its terms," citing numerous cases. And again: "Where the language is plain and admits of no more than one meaning, the duty of interpretation does not arise, and the rules which are to aid doubtful meanings need no discussion. Hamilton v.Rathbone,
If the proof had shown that defendants had merely bought and received
the 4 quarts, each quart in a separate bottle, for themselves and others, the result might have been different (S. v. Little,
There was an objection to the form of the bill, but we think, as against a motion to arrest the judgment, it is sufficiently definite to inform the defendants of the charge preferred against them. By fair and reasonable intendment, it charged a receipt of more than 1 quart of liquor in one package — that is, 1 solid gallon of liquor, not 4 quarts or 8 pints.
We have held that in order to sustain a motion in arrest of judgment, after verdict, for defects in the indictment, it must appear that the bill is so defective that a judgment cannot be pronounced upon a verdict thereunder. S. v. Moses,
These cases, and there are a number of others, show conclusively the strong trend towards giving the act of 1811 a liberal construction with a view of facilitating the administration of criminal justice without, of course, impairing the just rights of the accused under the Constitution, which only requires that he be informed of the charge against him, but not in any special form or particular words, except that it must be by presentment or indictment. Const., Art. I, secs. 11 and 12.
In S. v. Francis, supra, which was an indictment for manufacturing liquor in violation of the statute, Justice Brown said, referring generally to the statute: "Had the defendant moved to quash this bill or for a bill of particulars to supply him with any needed information, it is probable that one motion or the other would have been allowed. The defendant has not been taken at any disadvantage, for he allowed the trial to proceed and attacked the bill only after he had been convicted. To arrest the judgment it must appear that the bill is so defective that judgment cannot be pronounced upon it. . . . The bill, while defective in form, is sufficient to sustain the judgment of the court."
It is usually safe to follow the language of a statute when drawing an indictment upon it, as a departure from it may raise a doubt as to the sufficiency of the allegations. S. v. Hall,
There can be no question as to the constitutionality of this statute. It was recognized in S. v. Little, supra, and the cases recently decided in the highest Federal Court affirm the validity of similar enactments. J. C.Distilling Co. v. W. M. Railway Co. and West Virginia, and Same v. Am.Express Co. (8 January, 1917). The case of S. v. Burchfield, *830
It must be remembered that defendants received this liquor from an unlicensed dealer or an unlawful vender of it.
No error.
Cited: S. v. Efird,
(772)