United States v. Childs, 1290.
| Decision Date | 21 February 1942 |
| Docket Number | No. 1290.,1290. |
| Citation | 43 F. Supp. 776 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES v. CHILDS. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Georgia |
Lawrence S. Camp, U. S. Atty., and J. Ellis Mundy and Pierre Howard, Asst. U. S. Attys., all of Atlanta, Ga., for plaintiff.
Clint W. Hager and J. F. Kemp, both of Atlanta, Ga., for defendant.
The United States Attorney for this District has filed a libel against a Ford Automobile, of the appraised value of $125, seeking to forfeit it under the terms of the Act of Congress of August 9, 1939, 49 U.S.C.A. § 781 et seq. The claimant of the car moved to dismiss the libel upon the grounds that the same sets out no cause of action against the described automobile; asserts nothing which precludes her as the innocent owner of the property from asserting her right to its return; or against the property or her as the innocent owner thereof. She prays for the libel to be dismissed and the automobile awarded to her.
Thus is presented the question of whether the allegations of the libel as plead, and admitted for the purpose of this decision upon the motion to dismiss, set forth legal grounds for the forfeiture of the automobile in question. The facts then, as alleged, establish the proper seizure of the car in question while being by John Henry Moore unlawfully used to transport, carry and convey a contraband article, to-wit: 5 grains of Morphine Sulphate, a narcotic drug, in, upon and by means of said automobile, and to conceal and possess the said contraband article upon the person of John Henry Moore, who was in the automobile and while the automobile was by John Henry Moore being used to facilitate the unlawful transportation, carriage, conveyance, concealment, receipt, possession, sale, bartering, exchange and giving away of the said 5 grains of Morphine Sulphate, which were possessed by Moore with the intent and purpose of selling and offering the same for sale in violation of the laws and regulations of the United States dealing with narcotic drugs not in pursuance of the written order form of the purchaser, and not in the course of professional practice of said Moore and, not in good faith to a patient of his, and not for the alleviation of pain and suffering of the person alleged to have purchased the narcotics, "but for the purpose only of satisfying the craving and desire" of the purchaser, or intended purchaser, for narcotic drugs. These facts establish violation of the Anti-Narcotic Act, and with other allegations of the libel, bring the case clearly within the terms of the Supplemental Forfeiture Act of 1939, above cited. However, claimant argues that as applied to this case the Forfeiture Act is a police regulation not related to the collection of tax and therefore beyond the power of the National Congress. It is further assumed in argument that John Henry Moore is a physician. This is not alleged in the libel as an affirmative fact, but only that the sale was not in the course of his professional practice, and not in good faith to a bona fide patient of his. However, for the purpose of this decision it may be assumed that he is a registered physician. Relying chiefly upon the...
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Putch v. United States
...statute under which the property was seized can be made an issue in the condemnation proceedings in the District Court. United States v. Childs, D.C., 43 F. Supp. 776; United States v. One Oldsmobile Sedan, D.C., 75 F.Supp. 83, 85; Anniston Mfg. Co. v. Davis, 301 U.S. 337, 345-346, 57 S.Ct.......
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United States v. One 1949 Lincoln Coupe Auto, 1544.
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