United States v. Lane Motor Co.

• Decision Date: 20 October 1952
• Docket Number: 4461.,No. 4460,4460
• Citation: 199 F.2d 495
• Parties: UNITED STATES v. LANE MOTOR CO. (two cases).
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

199 F.2d 495 (1952)

UNITED STATES v. LANE MOTOR CO. (two cases).

Nos. 4460, 4461.

United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit.

October 20, 1952.

Paul Gotcher, Asst. U. S. Atty., Muskogee, Okl. (Edwin Langley, U. S. Atty., Muskogee, Okl., on the brief), for appellant.

Paul Harkey, Idobel, Okl., for appellee.

Before BRATTON, HUXMAN and PICKETT, Circuit Judges.

BRATTON, Circuit Judge.

These are libel actions, the first for the forfeiture of a truck and the second for the forfeiture of an automobile. The complaint in the first case charged that Guy Walter Matthews owned the truck; that it was used to transport raw materials, utensils, and vessels to the point where a distillery owned by Matthews was operated; that the materials, utensils, and vessels were to be used in the illegal manufacture and concealment of spirituous liquors; and that the truck was also used in transporting to and from the distillery men engaged to manufacture distilled spirits there. Lane Motor Company intervened, pleading that it held a valid chattel mortgage lien upon the truck and praying that such lien be given priority over the claim of the United States. The complaint in the second case charged that John Benjamin Goforth owned the automobile; that it was used to transport raw materials, utensils, and vessels to a distillery owned and operated by Goforth and Carl Lee Schaffer; that the materials, utensils, and vessels were to be used in the illegal manufacture and concealment of spirituous liquors manufactured at the distillery; and that the automobile was also used to transport Goforth and others to the distillery for the purpose of manufacturing distilled liquors in violation of law. Lane Motor Company intervened, pleading that it owned the automobile and seeking its immediate possession.

In the first case, the trial court found among other things that Matthews and Clyde Parnell were arrested while operating the still; that Roosevelt Lewis was subsequently apprehended; that all three of them entered pleas of guilty to various criminal charges arising out of the operation of the still; that the truck in question was parked on premises owned and operated as a cattle and hog ranch by Matthews at a point about two miles distant from the site of the still; that Matthews and others had ridden that day from their homes to the point where the truck was parked, a distance of approximately twenty-five miles; that after Matthews was arrested he admitted ownership of the truck and the officers returned to where it was parked and took possession of it. In the second case, the court found among other things that Goforth drove the automobile from his home to a point one and one-half to three miles from the illicit still he was operating; that he parked the automobile at that point where it was later seized; that he walked from the point at which the automobile was parked to the still where he was apprehended; and that he later pleaded guilty to an indictment charging possession and operation of the still. Forfeiture was denied in both cases, and the Government appealed.

Proceedings of this kind instituted by the United States for the forfeiture of property are essentially statutory proceedings, and they cannot be maintained unless authorized by an applicable statute. United States v. Charles D. Kaier Co., 3 Cir., 61 F.2d 160. Forfeiture statutes intended to prevent fraud on the revenue are construed less narrowly than are penal statutes and others involving forfeitures. United States v. Ryan, 284 U.S. 167, 52 S. Ct. 65, 76 L.Ed. 224. But...