United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company v. United States

• Decision Date: 08 June 1926
• Docket Number: No. 2369.,2369.
• Parties: UNITED STATES FIDELITY & GUARANTY COMPANY, Plaintiff in Error, v. UNITED STATES, Defendant in Error.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

12 F.2d 1021 (1926)

UNITED STATES FIDELITY & GUARANTY COMPANY, Plaintiff in Error, v. UNITED STATES, Defendant in Error.

No. 2369.

Circuit Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

June 8, 1926.

L. B. Keene Claggett, of Baltimore, Md. (Edgar Allan Poe and Bartlett, Poe & Claggett, all of Baltimore, Md., on the brief), for plaintiff in error.

George Ross Veazey, of Baltimore, Md. (Vernon Cook, of Baltimore, Md., on the brief), for Fidelity & Casualty Co., of New York, by permission of the Court.

A. W. W. Woodcock, U. S. Atty., and Morton P. Fisher, Asst. U. S. Atty., both of Baltimore, Md.

Before WOODS, WADDILL, and ROSE, Circuit Judges.

ROSE, Circuit Judge.

The bond in suit in this case was that given by one holding a permit to sell distilled spirits and wines for other than beverage purposes. It was on form No. 1408. In the court below, the learned District Judge ruled that the government was entitled to recover the full penalty of the bond without proving anything other than the violation of the condition. Very recently the Supreme Court has held otherwise, in the case of the United States v. Zerbey and the National Surety Co., 46 S. Ct. 532, 70 L. Ed. ___, decided May 24, 1926.

Reversed.

Judge WOODS died shortly after the argument before us.