Origet v. United States

• Decision Date: 19 March 1888
• Citation: 125 U.S. 240,8 S.Ct. 846,31 L.Ed. 743
• Parties: ORIGET v. UNITED STATES
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

125 U.S. 240

8 S.Ct. 846

31 L.Ed. 743

ORIGET v. UNITED STATES.

March 19, 1888.

Edwin B. Smith, for plaintiff in error.

Sol. Gen. Jenks, for defendant in error.

BLATCHFORD, J.

This is a suit in rem, brought by the United States in the district court of the United States for the Southern district of New York, against four cases of merchandise, seized for forfeiture for violations of the customs revenue laws. One of them was imported into the port of New York on the 6th of March, 1882, and the other three were imported on the 10th of March, 1882. The information proceeds against them for violations of sections 2839 and 2864 of the Revised Statutes, and of the twelfth section of the act of June 22, 1874, c. 391, (18 St. 188.) The latter section is in these words: 'Sec. 12. That any owner, importer, consignee, agent, or other person who shall, with intent to defraud the revenue, make or attempt to make any entry of imported merchandise by means of any fraudulent or false invoice, affidavit, or letter, or paper, or by means of any false statement, written or verbal, or who shall be guilty of any willful act or omission by means whereof the United States shall be deprived of the lawful duties, or any portion thereof, accruing upon the merchandise, or any portion thereof, embraced or referred to in such invoice, affidavit, letter, paper, or statement, or affected by such act or omission, shall, for each offense, be fined in any sum not exceeding five thousand dollars nor less than fifty dollars, or be imprisoned for any time not exceeding two years, or both; and, in addition to such fine, such merchandise shall be forfeited; which forfeiture shall only apply to the whole of the merchandise in the case or package containing the particular article or articles of merchandise to which such fraud or alleged fraud relates; and anything contained in any act which provides for the forfeiture or confiscation of an entire invoice, in consequence of any item or items contained in the same being undervalued, be, and the same is hereby, repealed.' As the material questions in the case arise in respect to section 12 of the act of 1874, it will not be necessary to refer particularly to the counts founded on the sections of the Revised Statutes.

One count in regard to three of the cases alleges that on or about the 10th of March, 1882, the owner, importer, consignee, or agents of the merchandise, or some other person or persons now unknown to the collector and to the attorney for the United States, with intent to defraud the revenue, made or attempted to make an entry of the merchandise, which was then and there subject to duties, and had been imported into the United States, within the district of the city of New York, from Paris, a foreign place, by way of Havre, in the vessel Amerique, by means of false and fraudulent invoices, affidavits, letters, and papers, and by means of false statements, written and verbal, by means whereof the United States were deprived of the lawful duties, or a portion thereof, accruing upon the merchandise, or a portion thereof, embraced and referred to in such invoices, affidavits, letters, and papers, and such false statements, the cases whose contents are proceeded against for forfeiture containing particular articles of merchandise to which said alleged frauds related, contrary to said twelfth section. Another count in regard to the three cases ale ges that on or about the 10th of March, 1882, the owner, importer, consignee, or agents of the merchandise, or some other person or persons now unknown to the dollector and to the said attorney, with intent to defraud the revenue, made or attempted to make an entry of the merchandise, which was then and there subject to duties, and had been imported into the United States within said district, from Paris, a foreign place, by way of Wavre, in the ship Amerique, and that the said owner, im- porter, consignee, or agents, and other person or persons unknown, was and were guilty of certain acts and omissions whereby the United States were deprived of the lawful duties, or a portion thereof, accruing upon the merchandise, or a portion thereof, affected by said acts and omissions, the cases whose contents are proceeded against for forfeiture containing particular articles of merchandise to which said alleged frauds and said acts and omissions related, contrary to said twelfth section. There were two similar counts in regard to the fourth case. The counts founded on section 2839 of the Revised Statutes allege a failure to invoice the goods according to their actual cost at the place of exportation, with design to avoid the duties thereon; and those founded on section 2864 allege an entry of, or attempt to enter, the goods by means of false invoices and papers. A claim was interposed by one Origet, as owner of the goods, and an answer denying that the goods became 'forfeited in manner and form as in said information is alleged.' The case was tried by a jury, and the minutes of the trial show that the jury rendered 'a verdict for the informants and against the claimant for the condemnation of the goods mentioned in the information, and that the goods were brought in with intent to defraud the United States.' Thereupon a decree was entered, which set forth that the jury having 'by their verdict found for the United States, condemning the said goods,' they were 'accordingly condemned as forfeited to the United States.' On a writ of error sued out by the claimant from the circuit court, that court affirmed the decree of the district court, and remanded the case to the latter court for the execution of its decree. The claimant has brought the case to this court by a writ of error.

The counsel for the claimant seeks to raise objections to...