Dickerson v. Commonwealth

• Decision Date: 08 March 1943
• Citation: 24 S.E.2d 550,181 Va. 313
• Court: Virginia Supreme Court
• Parties: DICKERSON et al. v. COMMONWEALTH.

24 S.E.2d 550

181 Va. 313

DICKERSON et al.

v.COMMONWEALTH.

Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia.

March 8, 1943.

[COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED]

Error to Circuit Court, Prince William County; Walter T. McCarthy, Judge.

Earl Dickerson was convicted of transporting intoxicating liquor in excess of one gallon through the State of Virginia to a consignee in the State of North Carolina who could not lawfully receive such liquor, and the truck transporting the liquor was condemned and ordered sold, and the liquor was forfeited to the Commonwealth, and Harold Dickerson and W. O. Page, intervener and claimant of the truck and liquor, bring error.

Affirmed.

Before CAMPBELL, C. J., and HUDGINS, GREGORY, BROWNING, EGGLESTON, and SPRATLEY, JJ.

Charles Henry Smith, of Alexandria, and E. G. Hobbs, of Selma, N. C, for plaintiffs in error.

Abram P. Staples, Atty. Gen., and G. Stanley Clarke, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the Commonwealth.

SPRATLEY, Justice.

This case comes before us upon a writ of error granted to a judgment and two orders entered on June 10, 1942, in the Circuit Court of Prince William County, Virginia. The judgment found Earl Dickerson guilty of transporting intoxicating liquor in excess of one gallon within, into and through the State of Virginia, to a consignee in the State of North Carolina, who could not lawfully receive such liquor.

One of the orders condemned and ordered to be sold the Ford truck transporting the liquor, and the other order confiscated and forfeited to the Commonwealth 762 gallons of alcoholic beverages loaded on the truck. The three cases were consolidated for trial by and with the consent of the parties, and heard by the court without the intervention of a jury.

The facts, identical in the three cases and presented in a written stipulation, may be briefly stated as follows:

On May S, 1942, in the County of Prince William, Virginia, Earl Dickerson was found driving a 1939 Ford truck, Motor No. 99T28531. The truck was loaded with 762 gallons of whiskey, and was being driven by Dickerson along U. S. Route No. 1, in the direction of North Carolina, when it was seized by a police officer of this State.

At the time of his arrest, Dickerson did not present to the police officer any evidence that he or any other person had filed with the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board any bond covering the transportation of the alcoholic beverages within, into or through the State of Virginia. He had a bill of lading or memorandum of shipment showing that the liquor had been purchased from a bona fide wholesale whiskey dealer at Dorsey, Maryland, and that it was consigned to William O. Page, trading as Page Trading Company, Garland, North Carolina. The bill of lading did not designate any route to be travelled while in Virginia.

Upon his trial, Dickerson produced evidence of a transportation bond posted with the Board by William O. Page of Wilson, North Carolina, as a carrier. William O. Page is the same person as W. O. Page, the appellant here.

Both Page and Dickerson were residents of the State of North Carolina, and the Ford truck, which was owned by Page, was duly licensed in that State.

The alcoholic beverages were being transported to North Carolina along U. S. Route No. 1, the most direct route, between Dorsey, Maryland, and Garland, North Carolina. Page was not a lawful consignee under the laws of North Carolina. The laws of that State do not permit the transportation by one person of more than one gallon of alcoholic spirits within its borders or its sale by individuals.

The prosecution was conducted under section 44 (c) of the Regulations of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, hereinafter sometimes referred to as the A. B. C. Board.

Appellants seek a reversal of the judgment and orders upon the three following grounds: (1) That the legislature of Virginia had no authority to delegate to the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board the power to adopt regulations governing the transportation of alcoholic beverages within, into and through Virginia; (2) that the regulations of the Board "have no extra-territorial effect and are null and void insofar as a nonresident is concerned;" and (3) that the regulations dealing with the transportation of alcoholic beverages through the State of Virginia constituted a burden upon interstate commerce.

The whole of section 44 of the Regulations of the A. B. C. Board reads as follows:

"Where alcoholic beverages are desired to be transported within, into, or through the State of Virginia (except those instances mentioned in Sections 42 and 43 of these Regulations), such transportation shall be engaged in only when in accordance with the provisions of these regulations:

"(a) There shall accompany such alcoholic beverages at all times during transportation, a bill of lading or other memorandum of shipment signed by the consignor showing an exact description of the alcoholic beverages being transported; the name and address of the consignor; the name and address of the consignee; the route to be traveled by such vehicle while in Virginia and such route must be the most direct route from the consignor's place of business to the place of business of the consignee.

"(b) Vehicles transporting alcoholic beverages shall not vary from the route specified in the bill of lading or other memorandum of shipment.

"(c) The name of the consignor on any such bill of lading or other memorandum of shipment shall be the name of the true consignor of the alcoholic beverages being transported and such consignor shall only be a person who has a legal right to make such shipment. The name of the consignee on any such bill of lading or memorandum of shipment shall be the name of the true consignee of the alcoholic beverages being transported and who has previously authorized in writing the shipmentof the alcoholic beverages being transported and who has a legal right to receive such alcoholic beverages at the point of destination shown on the bill of lading or other memorandum of shipment."

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act of Virginia, Virginia Code, 1942, (Michie) chapter 184A, section 4675, subsections (1) to (69a), Acts of Assembly, 1934, page 100 et seq., created as a department of the Commonwealth of Virginia, The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. The department, designated as the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, consists of a board of three members, and the officers, agents and employees of the Board, (section 4675 (3), with functions, duties, and powers authorized and prescribed by the Act.

The purpose of the A. B. C. Act, as set out in its title, is "to legalize, regulate and control the manufacture, bottling, sale, distribution, transportation, handling, advertising, possession, dispensing, drinking and use of alcohol, brandy, rum, whiskey * * * and all liquids, beverages and articles containing alcohol obtained by distillation, fermentation or otherwise * * *; to provide for the confiscation and disposition of articles declared contraband hereunder * * *; to impose penalties for violations of the act * * *." Acts of Assembly, 1934, chapter 94, page 100 et seq.

The pertinent sections of the Act dealing with the subject before us are:

Code Section 4675(5). "Power to make regulations; how published; effect thereof.--(a) The board may from time to time make such reasonable regulations, not inconsistent with this act, nor the general laws of the State, as the board shall deem necessary to carry out the purposes and provisions of this act and to prevent the illegal manufacture, bottling, sale, distribution and transportation of alcoholic beverages, or any one or more of such illegal acts, and from time to time alter, repeal, or amend such regulations or any of them. Such regulations shall be published * * *, and upon being so published shall have the force and effect of law. * * *"

Code Section 4675 (49a). "Transportation; transportation permits; penalties.-- The transportation of alcoholic beverages, other than wine and beer purchased from persons licensed to sell same in this State, and those alcoholic beverages which may be manufactured and sold without any license under the provisions of this act, within, into or through the State of Virginia in quantities in excess of one gallon is prohibited except in accordance with regulations adopted by the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board pursuant to this section.

"The board may adopt such regulations governing the transportation of alcoholic beverages, other than wine and beer purchased from persons licensed to sell same in this State and those alcoholic beverages which may be manufactured and sold without any license under the provisions of this act, within, into or through Virginia in quantities in excess of one gallon as it may deem necessary to confine such transportation to legitimate purposes and may issue transportation permits in accordance with such regulations.

"Any person who shall transport alcoholic beverages, other than wine and beer purchased from persons licensed to sell the same in this State and those alcoholic beverages which may be manufactured and sold without any license under the provisions of this act, in excess of one gallon, in violation of such regulations shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punished as provided in section 4675(62). (1936, p. 434.) "

The regulation and control of liquor traffic--the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages-- has long been a difficult problem. Because of the recognized evils attendant upon the traffic it has been held to be subject to the police power of the State, in the interest of the safety, health, and well-being of the local communities. The Act of 1934 was most carefully, skillfully and comprehensively drawn, with purposes definitely set out to rigidly control and regulate the liquor traffic in all of its phases.

Section 4675(5) expressly empowers the A. B. C. Board to make, from time to time, such reasonable...