49 S.C. 171 | S.C. | 1897
The first opinion was delivered by
Under an indictment charging that the defendant, on the 15th day of June, 1896, “did unlawfully store and keep in possession, within this State, certain alcoholic contraband liquor, to wit: about two and one-half gallons of corn whiskey, which is used as a beverage, against the form of the act,” &c., the defendant was found guilty, and sentenced “to pay a fine of $100, or be held to labor upon the public works of Oconee County for a period of three months, or be confined in the State penitentiary, at hard labor, for a period of three months.” From this judgment defendant appeals, upon the following grounds: “I. Because his Honor erred in charging the jury as follows: ‘The question is, did he have liquor there, keeping it there without any stamps on it? If so, he must show that he either bought it through the regular channel, the dispensary, or that he obtained from the state commissioner the proper stamps to be put on it;’ and should have charged the jury instead thereof that the keeping of a small quantity of liquor by a person in his dwelling house, for his own personal use, and not to be bartered, sold or given away, does not constitute a crime, which is the subject of indictment.
It appears from the testimony of the state constables, who were examined as witnesses for the State, that they found in the dwelling house of the defendant, while he was absent therefrom, a three-gallon jug, containing about two gallons of corn whiskey, as they estimated, which they seized and shipped to the state commissioner, because there were no marks or stamps upon it obtained from the state commissioner. There was no testimony tending to show that defendant had the whiskey for sale or any other unlawful purpose, or that defendant ever had sold or disposed of any whiskey. On the contrary, the defendant testified that he obtained from a man, who said it came from Rabun, a gallon of whiskey, about three weeks before the seizure, for his own personal use, and for no other purpose, because he was in bad health and needed it; that he never sold any whiskey, and he could not tell how much of the whiskey he had used before the seizure. He admitted that the whiskey had not been bought from any dispensary, and that it had no stamps upon it. The charge of the Circuit Judge, which is fully set out in the “Case,” and should be incorporated by the reporter in his report of the case, w7as, in substance, as follows: “The indictment is for storing and keeping in possession alcoholic liquors. * * * If a man undertakes to keep liquor, it must have the stamp of the state commissioner. * * * The question is, did he have liquor there, keeping it there without any stamps on it? If so, he must show that he had bought it through the regular channel, the dispensary, or that he obtained from the state commissioner the proper stamps to put on it. The law provides how he shall do it. The law prevents this storing and keeping in possession of liquors, shows how it may be kept safely and without any trouble. And if a man is not minded to put himself to that trouble, then he
The next section tó be considered is the twenty-fifth, which reads as follows: “That any of the liquors set forth in section one (1) of this act, which are contraband, may be seized and taken without warrant by any constable, sheriff or policeman, while in transit or after arrival, whether in possession of a common carrier, depot agent, express agent, private person, firm, corporation or association, and reported to the state commissioner at once, who shall dispose of the same as hereinafter provided: Provided, that liquors purchased outside the State, owned and conveyed as personal baggage, shall be exempt from seizure, when the quantity does not exceed one gallon.” It is very obvious that this section does not even purport .to create any criminal offense,' but deals only with the seizure and forfeiture of contraband liquors. Indeed, the proviso in terms recognizes the legality of the possession of certain spirtuous liquors, which are not bought from the dispensary, and which do not contain the stamps' of the state commissioner.
The next section of the act which is relied upon by the prosecution, is the twenty-sixth, which reads as follows:
The only remaining section relied upon by counsel for the prosecution, is the thirty-fifth, so much of which as is pertinent to this case reads as follows: “That in case of conviction of violations of any of the sections of this act, where punishment is not especially provided for, the person or persons or corporations so convicted shall be punished in the discretion of the Court trying the same. All alcoholic liquors, other than domestic wine, which do not have on the packages in which they are contained the label and certificates going to show that they have been tested by the chemist and purchased from a State officer authorized to sell them, are hereby declared contraband, and on seizure will be forfeited to the State, as provided in section thirty-onq: Provided, that this section shall not apply to liquor held by the owners of registered stills in bonded warehouses. Persons having liquor which they wish to keep for their own use may throw the protection of the law around the same, by furnishing an inventory of the quantity and kinds to the state commissioner, and applying for certificates to affix thereto.” It is difficult to perceive what light this section throws upon the question under consideration. It
A very careful consideration of this case, in all its aspects, leads inevitably to the conclusion that the grounds of appeal must be sustained. Inasmuch as this opinion was originally prepared before the recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Donald v. Scott, 165 U. S., 68, was announced, I desire to avail myself of the opportunity now presented of adding, that it seems to me absolutely necessary to adopt the conclusion which I have reached, in order to avoid a conflict with the decision of the Supreme Court
The appellant was tried at the July, 1896, term of the Court for Oconee County, on an indictment, in which it was charged that he “did unlawfully store, and keep in possession, within this State, certain.alcoholic contraband liquor, to wit: About two and one-half gallons of corn whiskey, which he used as a beverage.” Under the charge of his Honor, the presiding Judge, the jury found the appellant guilty, and he has appealed to this Court upon the following exceptions: 1. “Because his Honor erred in charging the jury as follows: ‘The question is: Did he have liquor there, keeping it without any stamps on it? If so, he must show that he either bought it throhgh the regular channel, the dispensary, or that he obtained from the state commissioner the proper stamps to be put on it;’ ánd should have charged the jury instead thereof that the keeping of a small quantity of liquor by a person in his dwelling house for his own personal use, and not to be bartered, sold or given away, does not constitute a crime, which is the subject of indictment. .2. That it is only, the storing or keeping in possession of alcoholic liquors for some unlawful use or purpose which is made an indictable offense by the statute, and his Honor erred in not so holding.”
The indictment was framed under the dispensary act of 1896. In considering these exceptions, it will be well to bear in mind that two distinct remedies are provided for a violation of the said act — one a punishment of the person, and the other a seizure and confiscation of property. It
When these sections are construed together, they show: 1st. That the act does not prohibit, but, on the contrary, in express language, permits -a person to keep liquor in his possession for his 'own use. 2d. That in order to throw the protection of the law around the liquor in his possession for his own use, it is necessary to furnish an inventory of the quantity and kinds to the state .commissioner, and apply for certificates to affix thereto. 3d. That if the liquor in his possession is seized because it has not the necessary certificates and labels required by the act, and he claims the liquor, the burden of proof is upon him to show that it is for his own use.
The act contemplated that there would necessarily be some time, after the liquor came into possession of the person for his own use, before he could apply to the state commissioner for the necessary certificates and labels. If it was seized because it did not have the necessary certificates and labels, he was not even then to be deprived of the liquor, provided he could show it was for his own use; but in that case the burden of proof would be upon him to show it was for, such purpose. Any other construction of the act would make a person a violator of the law who simply received as a present a bottle of liquor coming from another State, although it might be his intention forthwith to apply to the state commissioner for the necessary certificates and labels to affix to it. A construction contrary to that which we place upon the act would even make a person a violator of the law who took a drink of whiskey unless it came from the dispensary. We cannot think this was the intention of the legislature.
For these reasons, we concur in the conclusion announced in the opinion of Mr. Chief Justice Mclver.
I think the judgment of the Circuit Court should be affirmed. ' The sole question for determina
There was no error in the charge of the Circuit Judge