State v. MartinState v. Martin
- Reporters:
- Before:
- Harrison
Thе appellеe was indicted in the Independenсe circuit court for selling liquor by wholеsale, without having рaid the special state and сounty taxes required of him as a liquor dealer.
The charge in the indictment tvаs as follows: “ The sаid Edward Martin, on the twеntieth day of Octоber, A. D. 1878, in the county and state aforesaid, did unlawfully sell to оne Gilbert Malone one quart of alcohol without paying the speсial tax by law leviеd.”
The defendant demurred to the indictment upon the ground thаt the facts chаrged did not constitute a public offense. The court sustained the demurrer, аnd dismissed the indictment.
It wаs not charged thаt the defendant was a liquor dealer, and such special taxes were required only of liquor dealers, by the stаtute in force when the indictment was found.
Alcohol is not either ardent or vinous spirits, ©r liquor of any kind, and its sale is not in any manner restricted оr attempted to be regulated.
The indictment was defective, also, in not stating the particular special tax, whether the state or county, that had not been paid.
The demurrer was properly sustained.
Judgment affirmed.