220 P. 306 | Cal. | 1923
The parties are here on an order to show cause why a writ of prohibition should not be granted restraining the respondents from selling an automobile alleged to have been illegally used in transporting intoxicating liquor. The petitioner, Traffic Truck Sales Co. of California, on or about the first day of March, 1923, delivered to Joseph Mussio an automobile truck under the terms of a *379 conditional sales agreement, wherein and whereby title to the truck was reserved in the vendor until it should be fully paid for. The sales company assigned the contract to R. A. Crandall Company, the other petitioner, as security for payment of the notes given in consideration for the truck.
Mussio placed the automobile truck in the custody of John Anselmino, who was apprehended on April 6, 1923, in the county of Tehama, by the constable of Corning Township, while using it in the unlawful transportation of intoxicating liquor. At the time of his arrest Anselmino was personally in charge of the truck and the liquor, both of which were seized by the arresting officer. A complaint was filed in the justice's court of Red Bluff Township, charging him with possessing and with transporting intoxicating liquor in violation of the Wright Act, and he was arrested on a warrant duly issued. The automobile was placed in a garage in the city of Corning, and there held by order of respondent Ballard, as sheriff of the county of Tehama. Anselmino was tried by a jury in the justice's court presided over by the respondent Lennon as justice of the peace, and was found guilty upon each count. On May 15th he was sentenced by the justice of the peace to pay a fine of $250 for each offense, with the alternative of imprisonment unless the fines were satisfied. As part of the judgment it was ordered that the Wine in the possession of Anselmino at the time of his arrest be destroyed, and that the truck be forfeited and sold by the respondent sheriff, "after giving notice as provided by law." The justice of the peace signed and filed a notice of seizure of unclaimed autotruck, and the sheriff proceeded to advertise and sell the same. The notice of seizure and order of sale, together with a notice of sale, were published in full in the "Red Bluff Daily News" and the "Corning Observer," two newspapers of general circulation printed and published in Red Bluff and in Corning. The same matter was printed in the form of handbills, which were posted in three public places near the place of seizure, one of them being at the garage where the truck was held by the sheriff. The notice stated that the truck would be sold on the fourth day of June, 1923, at 10 o'clock, at the garage in Corning, at public auction, to the highest bidder for cash. The sheriff also gave notice of the sale by posting as in cases of sale under execution. *380
The automobile truck, when seized, was worth $1,900, and there was unpaid $1,254 on the purchase price. The rights of Mussio tinder the conditional sales contract had been terminated because of default in payment. At all times the defendant Anselmino disclaimed ownership in the property, and it is recited in the judgment, and is stipulated here, that no claimant of the truck appeared or made any claim of ownership or interest therein at or prior to the time of pronouncing judgment. On or about the twenty-second day of May, 1923, petitioner Traffic Truck Sales Co. for the first time learned of the order of confiscation and contemplated sale of its property. On June 1st petitioners filed in the court of the respondent justice of the peace a petition, claiming ownership of the truck, and praying for its release and delivery. The petition was denied upon the ground that the court had no further jurisdiction in the matter after having made the order of forfeiture and sale. Application to this court for a writ of prohibition to prevent the sale of the truck was then made. The prayer of the petition is that the respondent justice's court and the justice thereof be prohibited from treating the automobile truck as confiscated, and from depriving petitioners of their property without due process of law, and that the respondent sheriff be restrained from selling the truck and from all further proceedings in the matter.
In support of this application it is the contention of the petitioners, first, that the justice's court of Red Bluff Township had no jurisdiction in the premises, and, second, that assuming it did have jurisdiction to order the confiscation and sale of the truck, it had continuing jurisdiction, and it was its duty to hear and determine the plea of petitioners in seeking its release. Certain general constitutional objections are also urged. Whether a writ of prohibition, which only arrests judicial proceedings without or in excess of jurisdiction (Code Civ. Proc., sec. 1102), should issue on the facts in this case seems very doubtful. [1] It is only where the inferior tribunal is about to do some act unauthorized by law that the writ will lie. It is a preventive, rather than a corrective, remedy, and issues only to restrain the commission of a future act and not to undo an act already performed. (Hevren v. Reed,
[4] The sole question propounded upon this application is whether or not the respondent justice's court rightly assumed to itself jurisdiction to enter judgment of forfeiture and order of sale of the automobile truck belonging to the petitioners. The penal provisions of the national prohibition act, frequently designated as the Volstead Act (41 U.S. Stats. at Large, c. 85, p. 305), were enacted into the law of this state by the act of the legislature known as the Wright Act, approved by referendum at the election held November 7, 1922. (Stats. 1921, p., 79; In re Burke,
By section 1 of the Wright Act the courts of this state are vested with the jurisdiction to enforce the penalties of the Volstead Act, but no procedure is outlined or adopted, and no directions are given as to how these penalties are to be enforced. If the respondent justice's court had jurisdiction to enforce this particular penalty, the procedure followed in advancing to a sale of the automobile would, no doubt, have been effective. It is provided in section
In this case the justice's court of Red Bluff Township did not have jurisdiction over the subject matter of the proceeding. It is, of course, elementary that the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction of offenses committed under the national prohibition act. Jurisdiction to enforce the Wright Act must be found in the constitution or statutes of this state, and the procedure in such actions must be determined by the state law. (In re Brambini, ante, p. 19 [
[5] When a forfeiture of property is made absolute by statute the forfeiture must be deemed to attach at the moment the offense is committed. (Gelston v. Hoyt,
[6] The proceeding for a declaration of forfeiture and for an order of sale, in such cases, is one in rem, not against the owner or possessor of the property, but against the property itself, which is treated as the real offender. (People v. ThreeBarrels Full et al.,
We are led to the conclusion, therefore, that in the instant case the respondent justice's court was without jurisdiction. The purpose of a writ of review has been accomplished by the stipulation of facts filed here. The parties have expressed a desire for a determination of the present controversy on this hearing on the order to show cause.
The judgment of the justice's court in declaring the automobile forfeited and ordering a sale is therefore annulled and set aside.
Lawlor, J., Kerrigan, J., Lennon, J., Seawell, J., Wilbur, C. J., and Myers, J., concurred.