Lampley v. State
| Decision Date | 21 May 1954 |
| Parties | , 196 Tenn. 534 LAMPLEY v. STATE. |
| Court | Tennessee Supreme Court |
G. C. Grider, Huntingdon, Aaron Brown, Paris, for plaintiff in error.
Knox Bigham, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
This is an appeal from a conviction of unlawfully possessing whisky. Code Section 11216. The plaintiff in error requested that the jury fix his punishment if they found him guilty. The jury found the plaintiff in error guilty and fixed his punishment as a fine of $500 and a workhouse sentence of six months. It is from this conviction that the present appeal comes.
In February of 1952 members of the highway patrol, possessing a search warrant, searched a building in Henry County referred to as 'The Barn' which was being used as a beer tavern. Two of these patrolmen testified that the owner of the premises was 'Mr. Henry Lampley.' The search resulted in the discovery of considerable quantity of intoxicating liquors. One, Magee and his wife were present at the time of the search and after the officers had taken the liquor they gave a receipt for the confiscated liquor to Magee. Lampley was not present at the time but was said to be in Chicago.
The various assignments of error vigorously insist that the evidence preponderates against the verdict. It is the contention of the plaintiff in error that he was not present and that there was a complete lack of evidence as to his ownership of the liquor found. His argument obviously also suggests that since the highway patrolmen gave Magee a receipt for this liquor, after they had confiscated it, that they were in effect recognizing Magee as the owner of the liquor. The plaintiff in error relies upon our case of Shelton v. State, 190 Tenn. 518, 230 S.W.2d 986, as controlling. We do not think the Shelton case is in point because in that case it was pointed out that the husband there had nothing to do with the whisky found but that his wife took control of it and broke some of it and when she heard the officers coming in she ran out the back door and threw some away. Under such a factual situation this Court held that the presumption that the defendant, as the husband and head of the family, is the possessor and owner of the whisky found on the premises was rebutted by the facts which clearly overcame the legal presumption. See Crocker v. State, 148 Tenn. 106, 251 S.W. 914.
In the present case there is no showing of the exercise of dominion and control by either of the Magee's. It is true they were there and a receipt for the liquor taken was given to them. We have in this case only the bare fact that Lampley was the owner of the premises. Lampley does not take the witness stand and offers no evidence to rebut any legal presumptions that might be followed by reason of the fact that he is the owner of the premises. Therefore it is obvious, since there was no testimony offered to negative this well known legal presumption that when whisky was found on the premises of a person it is presumed to be his, we must conclude that it is...
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Whited v. State
...arises when the beverages are found on the premises that they are owned and possessed by the owner of the premises. See Lampley v. State, 196 Tenn. 534, 268 S.W.2d 572; Shelton v. State, 190 Tenn. 518, 230 S.W.2d 986; Hatchett v. State, 208 Tenn. 399, 346 S.W.2d Davidson v. State, 223 Tenn.......
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...Evans v. State, 209 Tenn. 453, 354 S.W.2d 263 (1962); Marie v. State, 204 Tenn. 197, 319 S.W.2d 86 (1958); Lampley v. State, 196 Tenn. 534, 268 S.W.2d 572 (1954). The presumption appears to be particularly strong where a husband is the owner of the premises and either he or his wife is the ......
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Smithson v. State
...facie evidence of guilt, and is sufficient only when there is no reliable and credible evidence offered in rebuttal. Lampley v. State, supra, 196 Tenn. 534, 268 S.W.2d 572. "The effect of a presumption is to invoke a rule of law which compels the jury to return a verdict in accordance there......
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Evans v. State
...upon appeal from a conviction based on such presumptive possession, the burden is upon him to rebut the presumption. Lampley v. State, 196 Tenn. 534, 536, 268 S.W.2d 572; Younger v. State, 206 Tenn. 588, 335 S.W.2d But while the fact of ownership of realty, a building or house, may raise a ......