Ryan v. United States

• Decision Date: 09 October 1922
• Docket Number: 5842.
• Citation: Ryan v. United States, 283 F. 975 (8th Cir. 1922)
• Parties: RYAN et al. v. UNITED STATES.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

283 F. 975

RYAN et al. v. UNITED STATES.

No. 5842.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

October 9, 1922

Verne Lacy and Edward A. Raithel, both of St. Louis, Mo., for plaintiffs in error.

Vance J. Higgs, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., for the United States.

Before SANBORN, STONE, and LEWIS, Circuit Judges.

SANBORN Circuit Judge.

The defendants below, Frank Smith and Harry Ryan, were indicted convicted, and sentenced for selling certain derivatives of opium and coca leaves without having registered with the collector of internal revenue their names and places of business, and without having paid the special tax required of all persons who deal in, dispense, or sell such derivatives in violation of section 1 of the Anti-Narcotic Act (U.S Comp. Stat. Sec. 6287g).

There were two counts in the indictment under which they were tried. At the close of the trial the court instructed the jury to find the defendant Ryan not guilty under the first count, that there was no evidence that he ever sold any derivatives of morphine or coca leaves, and that he could be convicted under the second count only on the ground that he willfully aided, abetted, or assisted the defendant Smith in making the sales thereunder. The jury found the defendant Smith guilty under both counts, and the defendant Ryan guilty under the second count, of the indictment.

The defendants claim that the court overruled their demurrers to the evidence at the close of the plaintiff's case; but they subsequently introduced evidence in their defense, and thereby waived that complaint.

They assign error because the court refused to grant their requests at the close of the trial to instruct the jury to return a verdict in their favor; but a perusal of the record has convinced that there was substantial evidence before the jury that the defendants had not...