Carrignan v. United States
| Decision Date | 17 May 1923 |
| Docket Number | 3233. |
| Citation | 290 F. 189 |
| Parties | CARRIGNAN v. UNITED STATES. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Henry C. Wilson, of Superior, Wis., for plaintiff in error.
W. H Dougherty, of Madison, Wis., for the United States.
Before ALSCHULER, EVANS, and PAGE, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff in error was charged (in three counts of an indictment) with having committed violations of the National Prohibition Act (41 Stat. 305, tit. 2, Sec. 21). Upon the trial the court dismissed one count and submitted defendant's guilt on the two remaining charges-- (a) the unlawful sale of intoxicating liquor; and (b) maintaining a nuisance within the terms of the act-- to the jury. A verdict of not guilty as to the first count and guilty as to the other was followed by a jail sentence and a fine.
Contending that the verdict is inconsistent and that plaintiff in error if not guilty on the first count, should have been discharged as to the second, a reversal of the judgment is now asked. We cannot accept the contention thus earnestly made. The two offenses are separate and distinct. The evidence was ample to support a verdict of guilty on either count. It would serve no useful purpose to speculate as to the reasons that induced the verdict. The issues of fact were for the jury's determination. Why it should convict on one count, evidently accepting the testimony of government witnesses as true, and acquit as to the other count, and thus reject the testimony of the same government witness, is not for the court to explain. The respective duties of the court and the jury are distinct, and each is supreme in its own field.
The same question that is here presented has frequently arisen and the decisions are in harmony. A verdict that is apparently inconsistent affords no basis for a reversal of a judgment predicated thereon, when the evidence is sufficient to support either of two separate offenses. Corbin v United States, 205 F. 278, 125 C.C.A. 114; Grey v. United States, 172 F. 101, 96 C.C.A. 415: Flickinger v. United States, 150 F. 1, 79 C.C.A. 515; Dimmick v. United States, 121 F. 638, 57 C.C.A. 664; De Jianne v. United States (C.C.A.) 282 F. 737; Boone v. United States, 257 F. 963, 169 C.C.A. 113; Reeder v. United States (C.C.A.) 262 F. 37; Bilboa et al. v. United States (C.C.A.) 287 F. 125. Had the three charges been presented by three separate indictments and a separate trial on each count had occurred, the contention now made would not have been seriously urged. Nor could it be seriously or successfully argued that,...
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