State v. Winston

Decision Date21 September 1927
Docket Number79.
Citation139 S.E. 240,194 N.C. 243
PartiesSTATE v. WINSTON.
CourtNorth Carolina Supreme Court

Appeal from Superior Court, Halifax County; Parker, Judge.

Criminal prosecution by the State of North Carolina against John Winston on an indictment charging defendant with purchasing and transporting spirituous liquor contrary to the statute. Special verdict of not guilty, and the State appeals. Reversed and remanded, with directions.

Criminal prosecution, tried upon an indictment charging the defendant first, with purchasing, and, second, with transporting spirituous liquor, contrary to the statute in such cases made and provided, etc.

It was shown on the trial, and the special verdict establishes among other things, that on August 4, 1927, the defendant purchased, for his own personal use between a pint and a quart of intoxicating liquor, in Halifax county, and transported the same a distance of about three miles to his home, there to be used exclusively for his own personal consumption.

Upon the facts found and disclosed by the jury, a special verdict of not guilty was rendered under appropriate instructions from the court. The state appeals, assigning error. C. S 4649.

D. G Brummitt, Atty. Gen., and Frank Nash, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

STACY C.J.

The special verdict seems to have been rendered on the theory that, as section 10 of the Turlington Act (chapter 1, Public Laws 1923) sanctions or does not condemn the possession of liquor in one's private dwelling, occupied and used only as such, for the personal consumption of the owner, his family residing in such dwelling, and bona fide guests when entertained by him therein, the Legislature did not intend, in the same act, to make its purchase or transportation unlawful when such liquor is to be used solely for the purpose allowed by the statute.

Without debating the question at this late date, it is sufficient to say that the law is otherwise. If it appear illogical to permit the use of spirituous liquor for a given purpose and then prohibit the means by which it may be acquired for that purpose, it should be remembered that the life of the law has been experience, not logic.

The defendant, on the present record, is guilty of both purchasing and transporting spirituous liquor in violation of the terms of the statute. 3 C. S. § 3411(b).

Let the cause be remanded with direction that a verdict of guilty be entered on the...

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4 cases
  • State v. Dowell
    • United States
    • North Carolina Supreme Court
    • May 2, 1928
    ...or shown to be unlawful; and, further, the liquor was not in the actual or constructive possession of defendant. In State v. Winston, 194 N.C. 243, 139 S.E. 240, it held: While section 10 of the Turlington Act (chapter 1, Public Laws of 1923; 3 C. S. § 3411(j), supra) does not make it a cri......
  • State v. Davis
    • United States
    • North Carolina Supreme Court
    • February 1, 1939
    ... ... favorable to the defendant in that it required the jury to ... find, before convicting, that transportation was for the ... purpose of sale, whereas the transportation of the quantity ... indicated was unlawful even though not for sale. State v ... Sigmon, supra; State v. Winston, 194 N.C. 243, 139 ... S.E. 240. Nor does the defendant have just cause to complain ... because the jury charitably returned a verdict of not guilty ... upon the possession charge in the face of ... ...
  • State v. Hege
    • United States
    • North Carolina Supreme Court
    • November 9, 1927
    ...his family residing in such dwelling, and of his bona fide guests when entertained by him therein." 3 C. S. § 3411(j). In State v. Winston, 194 N.C. 243, 139 S.E. 240, it held that a person cannot purchase intoxicating liquor, and then transport same to his private dwelling, used and occupi......
  • State v. Lassiter
    • United States
    • North Carolina Supreme Court
    • February 19, 1930
    ... ... correct rule of conduct," that, as now expressed in the ... valid statutes of this state, it is unlawful to purchase, at ... any time or place in North Carolina, any quantity of ... intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes. State v ... Winston, 194 N.C. 243, 139 S.E. 240. The same statute ... which makes it unlawful for any person to sell any ... intoxicating liquor as a beverage also makes it unlawful for ... any person to purchase it for such purpose. The seller and ... the purchaser are declared equally liable under the law ... ...

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