Hughes v. State

Citation572 P.2d 573
Decision Date06 December 1977
Docket NumberNo. M-77-125,M-77-125
PartiesWilliam Riley HUGHES, Appellant, v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.
CourtUnited States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
OPINION

BUSSEY, Presiding Judge:

The Appellant, William Riley Hughes, hereinafter referred to as defendant, was charged in the District Court, Jefferson County, Case No. CRM-76-42, with Unlawfully Transporting for Sale Outside of the State of Oklahoma Minnows Which Were Seined or Procured Within the Waters of Oklahoma, pursuant to the provisions of 29 O.S.Supp.1974, § 4-115B. The evidence was stipulated to by the parties and submitted to the trial court after a jury was waived. Upon conviction, the trial court set punishment at a fine of Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) and costs. From said judgment and sentence a timely appeal has been perfected to this Court.

The stipulated facts are as follows: The defendant for thirty years prior to the date of the offense in question was licensed under the law of the State of Texas as a minnow dealer; the defendant had a regular commercial minnow business located in Archer County, Texas, approximately two miles south of Wichita Falls, Texas; he had been engaged in such business for one year before the date of the offense in question; on the day in question he purchased a load of minnows from Fred Schokey, a minnow dealer licensed under the laws of the State of Oklahoma, at Mr. Schokey's place of business located at Purcell, Oklahoma; defendant was en route to his place of business at Wichita Falls, Texas, transporting the load of minnows in his vehicle, when he was detained and arrested in Waurika, Jefferson County, Oklahoma; the wholesale value and cost price of the minnows was $350.00, and the defendant was detained and arrested by Hackell Bershere, an Oklahoma licensed Game Ranger, without a warrant. The amended information further reflects that the date of the purchase was on or about April 23, 1976.

Defendant's sole assignment of error is that 29 O.S.Supp.1974, § 4-115B violates the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution of the United States which confers upon the Congress of the United States exclusive power to regulate interstate commerce.

Section 4-115B reads as follows:

"No person may transport or ship minnows for sale outside the state which were seined or procured within the waters of this state except that:

"1. Nothing contained herein shall prohibit any person from leaving the state possessing three (3) dozen or less minnows;

"2. Nothing contained herein shall prohibit sale and shipment of minnows raised in a regularly licensed commercial minnow hatchery."

The defendant argues that § 4-115B prohibits the export out of Oklahoma of minnows and that such state action is condemned by...

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3 cases
  • Hughes v. Oklahoma
    • United States
    • United States Supreme Court
    • 24 April 1979
    ... 441 U.S. 322 . 99 S.Ct. 1727 . 60 L.Ed.2d 250 . William Riley HUGHES, Appellant, . v. . State of OKLAHOMA. . No. 77-1439. . Argued Jan. 9, 1979. . Decided April 24, 1979. . Syllabus .             An Oklahoma statute prohibits transporting or shipping outside the State for sale natural minnows seined or procured from waters within the State. Appellant, who holds a ......
  • Hughes v. State
    • United States
    • United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
    • 6 December 1977
    ...court, punishment was fixed at a fine of Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) and costs. This case is a companion case of Hughes v. State, Okl.Cr., 572 P.2d 573 (M-77-125, 1977), recently affirmed by this Court wherein the defendant was charged and convicted in the District Court, Jefferson County......
  • William Riley Hughes v. the State of Oklahoma.
    • United States
    • United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
    • 4 June 1979
    ...TO THE DISTRICT COURT NOW, on this 31st day of May, 1979, the opinion entered on the 6th day of December, 1977 and reported at Okl.Cr. 572 P.2d 573 (1978), is VACATED in accordance with the opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States, Hughes v. Oklahoma, 441 U.S. 322, 99 S.Ct. 1727, 6......
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