State v. Rhodes

• Decision Date: 08 May 1894
• Citation: 58 N.W. 887,90 Iowa 496
• Parties: STATE OF IOWA v. T. H. RHODES, Appellant
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

58 N.W. 887

90 Iowa 496

STATE OF IOWA v. T. H. RHODES, Appellant

Supreme Court of Iowa, Des Moines

May 8, 1894

Appeal from Washington District Court.--HON. D. RYAN, Judge.

THE defendant was convicted, and fined one hundred dollars, for knowingly, willfully, and unlawfully receiving, for the purpose of delivering to another, certain intoxicating liquors, which were being, as it is alleged, unlawfully conveyed in this state. He appeals. Affirmed.

AFFIRMED.

H. M Eicher and Hedge & Blythe for appellant.

John Y Stone, Attorney General, Thos. A. Chesshire, C. J. Wilson and E. M. Shelton for the state.

OPINION

KINNE, J.

I.

The defendant was arrested upon an information charging that he was the agent of the Burlington & Western Railway Company at Brighton, Iowa and that on August 6, 1891, as such agent, he "did knowingly, willfully, and unlawfully receive, for the purpose of delivering to another, certain intoxicating liquor that was being unlawfully transported or conveyed from Burlington, Iowa to Brighton, Iowa viz., one box containing a two-gallon jug, and said jug being full of whisky, alcohol, or other intoxicating liquor; said box being marked 'W. H., Brighton, Iowa' and not plainly or correctly labeled or marked, showing the quantity and kind of liquor contained therein." The case was first tried before a justice of the peace, and defendant was convicted, and fined one hundred dollars. From this judgment he appealed to the district court, where a jury was waived, and a trial had to the court. He was again found guilty, and adjudged to pay a fine of one hundred dollars, from which judgment this appeal is prosecuted. From the evidence, it appears that on August 4, 1891, the Dallas Transportation Company, a corporation doing business in the state of Illinois, delivered to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway Company, at Dallas, Illinois, one wooden box, about a cubic foot in size, marked "W. H., Brighton, Iowa;" that the consignor of said box, when it left it with the railway company for transportation, represented to the railway company that it contained groceries. This box was shipped over the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway to Burlington, Iowa and then transferred to the Burlington & Western Railway for shipment to Brighton, Iowa. The shipment was made the entire distance upon a single waybill. August 5, 1891, said box arrived at Brighton, and was delivered on the depot platform by the trainmen. Immediately thereafter the defendant, in compliance with the directions of his employers, carried said box from the platform into the freight room of the depot building, where, on the same day, it was seized by a constable under a search warrant. At the time of the seizure the freight on the box was due and unpaid. Inclosed in the box was a jug containing whisky, but it was so inclosed as to be hidden from view. At the time it was seized, the box was being held by the railway company for the payment of charges, and for delivery to the consignee. Neither the defendant, nor the road by whom he was employed, held a permit for the transportation or sale of intoxicating liquors; and neither had a certificate from the county auditor that the consignee was authorized to sell intoxicating liquors in Washington county, Iowa. Previous to the arrival of the box, a mail carrier told defendant he was looking for a box from Dallas City for William Hown, and said it was likely to be marked "W. H.," and would contain alcohol or whisky. He told the mail carrier that he had not received a box of that description. It arrived the next day. He supposed, perhaps, this was the box the mail carrier told him would come.

II. The information in this case is based upon a violation of Code section 1553, as amended (McClain's Code, section 2410). This section provides that: "If any express company, railway company, or any agent or person in the employ of any express company, or of any common carrier, or any person in the employ of any common carrier, or if any other person, shall transport or convey between points, or from one place to another within this state, for any other person or persons or corporation, any intoxicating liquors, without first having been furnished with a certificate from and under the seal of the county auditor of the county to which said liquor is to be transported, or is consigned for transportation, or within which it is to be conveyed from place to place, certifying that the consignee or person to whom said liquor is to be transported, conveyed or delivered, is authorized to sell such intoxicating liquors in such county, such company, corporation, or person so offending, and each of them, and any agent of such company, corporation, or person so offending, shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in the sum of one hundred dollars for each offense and pay costs of prosecution, and the costs shall include a reasonable attorney fee to be assessed by the court, which shall be paid into the county fund, and stand committed to the county jail until such fine and costs of prosecution are paid. The offense herein defined shall be held to be complete and shall be held to have been committed in any county of the state, through or to which said intoxicating liquors are transported, or in which the same is unloaded for transportation or in which said liquors are conveyed from place to place or delivered. It...