State v. Stroschein

• Decision Date: 19 October 1906
• Docket Number: Nos. 14,870 - (193).,s. 14,870 - (193).
• Citation: 99 Minn. 248
• Parties: STATE v. FERDINAND STROSCHEIN.<SMALL><SUP>1</SUP></SMALL>
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

99 Minn. 248

STATE v. FERDINAND STROSCHEIN.¹

Nos. 14,870 - (193).

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

October 19, 1906.

Case certified from the district court for Lyon county, Webber, J., for the determination of the questions enumerated in the opinion. Affirmed, and remanded for further proceedings.

E. T. Young, Attorney General, Bjorn B. Gislason, County Attorney, and O. A. Lende, for the State.

Thomas E. Davis, for defendant.

BROWN, J.

Defendant was charged by the indictment against him with the crime of selling intoxicating liquor to a minor. He interposed a general demurrer to the indictment, which was overruled, and the trial court certified the cause to this court for the determination of the following questions: (1) Whether the indictment states facts sufficient to constitute a public offense; (2) if it states a public offense, of what section of the statutes do the facts alleged show a violation; and (3) what section of the statutes prescribes the penalty for the offense charged? The essential parts of the indictment are substantially as follows: That defendant on May 17, 1906, at the village of Cottonwood, in the county of Lyon, did unlawfully sell and dispose of intoxicating liquor, namely, eight glasses of beer of the value of forty cents, to one Carl Lerstad, the said Lerstad being then a minor person, under the age of twenty one years.

The question whether the indictment states a public offense involves a construction of those portions of the Revised Laws of 1905, regulating and controlling the sale of intoxicating liquors. It is contended by defendant that under the terms of the new statutes it is not an offense for a licensed saloonkeeper to sell his wares to a minor; that such sales are a violation of the law only when made after notice forbidding the same has been given by the parents or guardian of the minor. In this contention, urged with much ingenuity by counsel for defendant, we are unable to concur.

The new statutes on the subject of the sale of intoxicating liquors are not, perhaps, so clear and specific as they might have been made. Section 1519 provides, generally, that any person who shall sell any intoxicating liquors in quantities less than five gallons, or in any quantity to be drunk upon the premises, "except as hereinafter provided," is guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine of not less than $50 and the costs of prosecution, and by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than thirty days. This section prohibits all sales of intoxicating liquors in quantities less than five gallons, except as expressly provided by other sections. Section 1520 permits pharmacists, duly licensed to carry on their business, to dispense such liquors upon the prescription of a reputable and licensed physician; and section 1521 provides that any person duly licensed by proper authority may sell such liquors in the room named in his license, at the time, in the manner, and to the persons allowed by law, but not otherwise. While section 1532 prohibits a sale by a licensed dealer on certain days named in the section, section 1533 prohibits the sale at certain places, and section 1534 declares a sale to minors, pupils, students in any educational institution, intoxicated persons, or spendthrifts, to be illegal. Section 1559 provides that any person selling liquors to a minor after notice by a parent or guardian of such minority shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and punished by a fine of not less than $50 or more than $100, and imprisonment for not less than thirty days or more than ninety days. We find in these several sections the general prohibition, except as permitted, and the express grant of authority to sell, and the place where the business may be carried on, certain restrictions as to persons to whom sales may be made, and specific prohibition against sales to minors after notice from parents or guardian. It is the claim of defendant that inasmuch as no specific punishment is imposed for a violation of section 1534, prohibiting generally the sale to minors, section 1559 is the only statute now in force on the subject. The question presented is whether this contention is sound.

As already observed, these various provisions of the statutes are not clear. They leave the question somewhat in doubt. The rules for the interpretation of revised statutes or codes resolve themselves into one inquiry, applicable alike to the construction of all legislative enactments, viz., the legislative intent. If the language of the revised statutes be plain and free from...