United States v. Hodorowicz, 6910
| Decision Date | 11 July 1939 |
| Docket Number | 6912,No. 6910,No. 6915.,6910,6915. |
| Citation | 105 F.2d 218 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES v. HODOROWICZ. SAME v. DOWIAT. SAME v. HODOROWICZ. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Joseph A. Struett, of Chicago, Ill., for appellants.
William J. Campbell, U. S. Atty., Martin Ward, Asst. U. S. Atty., and Elbert H. Loyd and Joseph H. Collier, Attys., U. S. Treasury Department, all of Chicago, Ill., for appellee.
Before MAJOR, TREANOR, and KERNER, Circuit Judges.
The defendants were found guilty by a verdict of a jury under an indictment charging them with unlawful possession of distilled spirits, the containers of which did not have revenue stamps affixed thereto. The offense charged was violation of Sec. 201 of the Liquor Taxing Act of 1934, which is Sec. 1152a, Title 26 U.S.C.A. From their respective judgments they present this appeal.
The sole question in the case is whether the evidence is sufficient to support the conviction of the defendants for the possession of the contraband liquor. Counsel for defendants admits that the facts are sufficient to establish a sale of unlabeled alcohol in violation of the statute.
The controlling facts are comprised in a brief compass. On December 16, 1937, a government investigator called at the Hodorowicz Hardware Store in Chicago, Illinois. There he met Frank Hodorowicz, and said to him that he (the agent) must be in the wrong place, as he had supposed the place was a wholesale liquor store. Frank Hodorowicz replied that he was in the right place and asked if the agent wanted alcohol. After inquiries had been made concerning the price, Frank Hodorowicz requested the agent to come to the store on the following Sunday.
On Sunday, December 19, 1937, Peter Hodorowicz, in the presence of the other defendants, inquired of the agent how many gallons were wanted, and, when told, said the price would be $55. That sum being paid to him, he directed the agent to give to the defendant Clem Dowiat the key to his (the agent's) automobile. Clem Dowiat took the key and drove the agent's automobile into a garage owned by Tony Hodorowicz. Upon Dowiat's return Peter Hodorowicz said to the agent, In the automobile were 5 five-gallon cans of distilled spirits, the cans having no revenue stamps affixed thereto.
Counsel for defendants contend that the only possession in this case is the physical existence of the contraband liquor in the agent's car and that it was only temporary. He then concludes that, where the possession is merely incidental to and necessary for the consummation of the sale, it is not a crime of itself within the meaning of the statute. With this contention we cannot agree.
The statute involved is not in any sense ambiguous. It is clear and certain. Its comprehensive terms condemn every possession of distilled spirits having no revenue stamps affixed thereto. The aim of the statute is the protection of the revenue of the government and provides that no person shall transport, possess, buy, sell, or transfer any distilled spirits, unless the immediate container thereof has affixed thereto a stamp denoting the quantity of distilled spirits contained therein and evidencing payment of all internal-revenue taxes imposed on such spirits. By this act Congress made no such distinction as is contended for by the defendants. On the contrary the statute clearly names five distinct and separate offenses, "transport," "possess," "buy," "sell," and "transfer," and the courts have so held. Hadley v. United States, 8 Cir., 18 F.2d 507; Driskill v. United States, 9 Cir., 24 F.2d 413 and Albrecht v. United States, 273 U.S. 1, 47 S.Ct. 250, 71 L.Ed. 505.
We do not think the question is new. Substantially the identical argument was made in Albrecht v. United States, supra, in which it was claimed that there was double punishment, because the liquor, which the defendants were convicted for having sold, was the same as that which they had been convicted for having...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
U.S. v. Ruffin
...with the following decisions: Rothenburg v. United States, 1918, 245 U.S. 480, 38 S.Ct. 18, 62 L.Ed. 414, and United States v. Hodorowicz, C.C.A.Ill.1939, 105 F.2d 218, certiorari denied, 308 U.S. 584, 60 S.Ct. 108, 84 L.Ed. 489. United States v. Giles, 1937, 340 U.S. 41, 57 S.Ct. 340, 81 L......
-
U.S. v. Sperling, 237
...States, 173 F.2d 131, 134 (8th Cir. 1949). It may be simply the joint activity associated with aiding and abetting. United States v. Hodorowicz, 105 F.2d 218, 220 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 308 U.S. 584, 60 S.Ct. 108, 84 L.Ed. 489 (1939); Jamail v. United States, 55 F.2d 216, 217 (5th Cir. 1......
-
United States v. Santore
...and briefs reveals that this point was not raised, and neither of the two cases cited in support of the statement, United States v. Hodorowicz, 7 Cir., 1939, 105 F.2d 218, 220, certiorari denied 1939, 308 U.S. 584, 585, 60 S.Ct. 108, 84 L.Ed. 489, 490, and Vilson v. United States, 9 Cir., 1......
-
Barfield v. United States
...possession of truck's cargo; mere sitting in truck not sufficient. United States v. O'Brien, 7 Cir., 174 F.2d 341; United States v. Hodorowicz, 7 Cir., 105 F.2d 218, 220, "* * * possession is the exercise of such a power over a thing as attaches to lawful ownership * * *"; Toney v. United S......
-
The Alien Tort Statute and Corporate Liability: Rebutting the Extraterritorial Presumption Post-kiobel
...See Al Shimari v. CACI Premier Tech., Inc., 758 F.3d 516, 530-31 (4th Cir. 2014).161. Id.162. See id.163. United States v. Hodorowicz, 105 F.2d 218, 220 (7th Cir. 1939) ("[A]ny one who assists in the commission of a crime may be charged directly with the commission of the crime." (emphasis ......