United States v. Wong Sing
| Citation | 67 L.Ed. 105,43 S.Ct. 7,260 U.S. 18 |
| Decision Date | 23 October 1922 |
| Docket Number | No. 44,44 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES v. WONG SING |
| Court | United States Supreme Court |
Mr. Alfred A. Wheat, of New York City, for plaintiff in error.
Error to review the action of the District Court in dismissing an indictment against defendant in error. The indictment was in two counts. The first count charged that Wong Sing feloniously had in his possession and under his control, at a specified date, certain derivatives and preparations of morphine and cocaine for the purpose of sale and distribution; he not being registered under the provisions of the act of Congress approved December 17, 1914, and its amendments (Comp. St. § 6287 et seq.), and not having paid the special tax required by the Act.1
The second count charged that Wong Sing, at a specified date and time on such date, and at a specified place in Salt Lake City, within the jurisdiction of the court, knowingly, willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously purchased, from a person or persons unknown to the grand jurors, morphine and cocaine, the exact quantity being unknown to the grand jurors; the said drugs not being in the original stamped packages, or from the original stamped packages; he not having then and there obtained the drugs from a registered dealer in pursuance of a prescription written for legitimate medical uses by a practitioner registered under the act of December, 17, 1914, and its amendments; and the purchase not being by a patient from a registered practitioner in the course of his professional practice, and he, Wong Sing, not being then and there registered under the provisions of the act of Congress, and not having then and there, or theretofore, or at all, paid the special tax provided by the act—contrary to the form of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the United States of America.
Wong Sing, upon being arraigned, pleaded not guilty, but subsequently withdrew the plea and demurred to the indictment 'for failure to state an offense, and being insufficient.' The demurrer was sustained, and he was discharged from all liability thereon.
The court made a certificate, to be part of the record and proceedings, that the first count of the indictment was based upon section 8 of the Act of Congress of December 17, 1914, commonly called the Harrison Anti-Narcotic Act, and that he sustained the demurrer to that count upon the authority of United States v. Jin Fuey Moy, 241 U. S. 394, 36 Sup. Ct. 658, 60 L. Ed. 1061, Ann. Cas. 1917D, 854. And the court further certified that the second count of the indictment was based upon the amended Harrison Anti-Narcotic Act contained in section 1006 of the Revenue Act of February 24, 1919, c. 18 (40 Stat. 1130; Comp. St. Ann. Supp. 1919, § 6287g), and that the count was predicated upon the following provisions: 'It shall be unlawful for any person to purchase, sell, dispense or distribute any of the aforesaid drugs except in the original stamped package or from the original stamped package * * *'—and that he construed 'the word 'persons' in the foregoing language to mean the persons enumerated in the first paragraph of section 1006, namely, 'Every person who imports, manufactures, produces, compounds, sells, deals in, dispenses, or gives away opium, or coca leaves, or...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
United States v. Smith
...S.Ct. 214, 216, 63 L.Ed. 493. See, Webb v. United States, 1919, 249 U.S. 96, 39 S.Ct. 217, 63 L.Ed. 497; United States v. Wong Sing, 1922, 260 U. S. 18, 21, 43 S.Ct. 7, 67 L.Ed. 105; Watson v. United States, 1926, 9 Cir., 16 F.2d 52, 53. In a later case, the Supreme Court said "Congress may......
-
United States v. Hecht
...v. Brown (D. C.) 224 F. 135; U. S. v. Woods (D. C.) 224 F. 278; United States v. Charter (D. C.) 227 F. 331; United States v. Wong Sing, 260 U. S. 18, 21, 43 S. Ct. 7, 67 L. Ed. 105; United States v. Doremus, 249 U. S. 86, 39 S. Ct. 214, 63 L. Ed. 493. And see Jin Fucy Moy v. United States,......
-
Nigro v. United States
...certainly because of the juxtaposition of the words. This is shown by a more recent decision of this Court in United States v. Wong Sing, 260 U. S. 18, 43 S. Ct. 7, 67 L. Ed. 105. In that case, Wong Sing was indicted under the amendment, section 1006 of the Revenue Act of 1918, for purchasi......
-
O'NEILL v. United States
...person, whether registered or not to purchase or sell such drugs except from or in the original stamped package. U. S. v. Wong Sing, 260 U. S. 18, 43 S. Ct. 7, 67 L. Ed. 105; Rossi v. U. S. (C. C. A.) 9 F.(2d) 362, 365; Ng Sing v. U. S. (C. C. A. 9) 8 F.(2d) 919, 922; Bethea v. U. S. (C. C.......