35 Fla. 229 | Fla. | 1895
The plaintiff in error, upon information filed, was tried and convicted'of the misdemeanor of selling intoxicating liquors, at the Fall term, 1894, of the Circuit Court of Walton county, and sentenced to pay a fine of one hundred dollars and costs, and seeks a reversal or such judgment by writ of error.
The first error assigned is that the court erred in rulingthat under the provisions of Chapter 4152 laws, approved June 2nd, 1893, the burden of proof was upon the defendant in such cases where it was shown that he had taken out a United States revenue license to engage in the business of selling spirituous, vinous or malt liquors. The statute referred to seems to provide that the holding, owning or purchase of a United States revenue license to sell spirituous, vinous or malt liquors by anyone shall bq prima facie evidence that such person is engaged in such business; and that the production of such Federal license or an authenticated copy thereof to a grand jury should authorize them to indict for the conduct of such business in counties where its conduct was prohibited by law; and that proof of the holding, owning or purchase of such Federal license, by the introduction of the original or a duly authenticated copy thereof, should be sufficient evidence, without explanation, upon which to convict.
The record shows that at the trial the State’s Attorney requested an adjournment of the case for one day
At the trial the defendant attempted to prove by one-R. 0. Allen, who was the editor of a newspaper published in said county, that he had received a communication for publication in his paper relative to the sale by the defendant of the article called “Hopfen Weiss,” that it was alleged he had sold in violation of law, counsel for the defendant stating at the same time that-
The third assignment of error is the refusal of the defendant’s request to give the following instruction: “If they (the jury) believe the evidence they will acquit the defendant.” There was no error here. The instruction was tantamount to the court telling the jury that the evidence offered for the State-was insufficient for conviction, if they believed it to be-true. The evidence was conflicting, but had it not been for the omission in the proofs that we will presently notice, there was evidence on behalf of the State upon which, if the jury had convicted, we would not have-felt authorized to disturb their finding.
The refusal of the defendant’s motion for a new trial is also assigned as error. One of the grounds of this, motion is that, the verdict is not supported by the evidence. The information alleges that the offense it charges was committed on the 15th day of September, 1894, but in the proofs brought here in the record there is not a scintilla of evidence to show when the offense was committed, or whether it was done prior or subse
For the errors found the judgment below is reversed .and a new trial awarded.