Adams Express Company v. Commonwealth of Kentucky

• Decision Date: 13 May 1907
• Docket Number: No. 331,331
• Citation: 206 U.S. 129,51 L.Ed. 987,27 S.Ct. 606
• Parties: ADAMS EXPRESS COMPANY, Piff. in Err., v. COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

206 U.S. 129

27 S.Ct. 606

51 L.Ed. 987

ADAMS EXPRESS COMPANY, Piff. in Err.,

v COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY.

No. 331.

Argued April 17, 18, 1907.

Decided May 13, 1907.

On February 17, 1904, a grand jury returned into the circuit court of Laurel county, Kentucky, an indictment against Joe Newland and the Adams Express Company, charging that 'the said Joe Newland and the Adams Express Company, the latter being a partnership engaged in and carrying on the business of a common carrier of packages, goods, wares, and merchandise, by the method known as express . . . did, in Laurel county, Kentucky, on the 17th day of February, 1904, unlawfully and wilfully carry for and deliver to George Meece a parcel, package, shipment, and quantity of intoxicating, spirituous, vinous, and malt liquors . . . to be and which was paid for on delivery at East Bernstadt in said Laurel county, same being at the time a shipment commonly known and called C. O. D. shipments, . . . said shipment and delivery being made and done at the time by said Joe Newland and said Adams Express Company in the usual course of business of said Adams Express Company.'

Subsequently the action was dismissed as to Newland, and, on a plea of not guilty, the case was tried before a jury and resulted in a verdict finding the company guilty and fixing the fine at $60. The instructions of the court were as follows:

'Gentlemen of the July: 1. If you shall believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant, Adams Express Company, is a copartnership, formed of persons whose names and number were unknown to the grand jury that found this indictment, and who lived out of the state of Kentucky, but are doing business in the state of Kentucky and in Laurel county, Kentucky, and under the firm name and style of 'Adams Express Company,' and that the said Adams Express Company, in this county and within twelve months next before the finding of the indictment herein, knowingly delivered to the witness, George Meece, spirituous, vinous, or malt liquors in quantities of less than 5 gallons at the time mentioned by the witness, and received the pay therefor, and that said company received any pay whatever for its service in that behalf, then you should find the defendant guilty and fix its punishment at any fine not less than $60.00 nor more than $100.00, in your discretion, according to proof.

'2. The court says to the jury that if they shall believe from the evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the agent or agents of the defendant's company that accepted, received, transported, or delivered the package mentioned in evidence by the witness Meece, knew, or might, by the exercise of such care as persons of ordinary prudence are accustomed to use in the ordinary transactions of life, have known the contents of the package delivered to the witness, then the defendant company is chargeable with such knowledge, and should be held to know the contents of such package.'

Judgment was entered on the verdict, which was affirmed by the court of appeals of the state, 27 Ky. L. Rep. 1096, 87 S. W. 1111, and from that court the case was brought here on writ of error. The act under which the prosecution was had is subsec. 4 of § 2557b, Kentucky Statutes, 1903, commonly called the 'C. O. D.' law, which is part of the general local option law as amended in 1902, and which reads:

'All the shipments of spirituous, vinous, or malt liquors, to be paid for on delivery, commonly called 'C. O. D. shipments' into any county, city, town, district, or precinct where said act is in force, shall be unlawful and shall be deemed sales of such liquors at the place where the money is paid or the goods delivered; the carrier and his agents selling or delivering such goods shall be liable jointly with the vendor thereof.'

Messrs. Lawrence Maxwell, Jr., E. F. Trabue, and Joseph S. Graydon for plaintiff in error.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 131-133 intentionally omitted] Messrs. N. B. Hays and Charles H. Morris for defendant in error.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 133-135 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justice Brewer delivered the opinion of the court:

The testimony showed that the package, containing a gallon of whisky, was shipped from Cincinnati, Ohio, to George Meece, at East Bernstadt, Kentucky. The transaction was therefore one of interstate commerce, and within the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress. The Kentucky statute is obviously an attempt to regulate such interstate commerce. This is hardly questioned by the court of appeals, and is beyond dispute under the decisions of this court.

In Vance v. W. A. Vandercook Co. 170 U. S. 438, 444, 42 L. ed. 1100, 1103, 18 Sup. Ct. Rep....