United States v. Lehigh Valley R. Co.
Decision Date | 19 August 1930 |
Docket Number | No. 5901.,5901. |
Citation | 43 F.2d 135 |
Parties | UNITED STATES v. LEHIGH VALLEY R. CO. et al. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania |
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Andrew B. Dunsmore, U. S. Atty., of Wellsboro, Pa., and William J. Walsh, Sp. Asst. to U. S. Atty., of Washington, D. C.
Knapp, O'Malley, Hill & Harris, of Scranton, Pa., and John T. Brady, of Harrisburg, Pa., for defendants.
The defendants were indicted on October 29, 1929, for a violation of the Elkins Act (U. S. Code, title 49, § 41 49 USCA § 41). They have filed pleadings attacking the validity of the indictment. Each defendant has filed a plea in abatement the legal sufficiency of which the government attacks by demurrers. Each defendant has also filed a motion to quash, and in each case a rule was granted to show cause why the indictment should not be quashed. Both proceedings have been adopted by counsel for defendants in order to avoid a possible denial of their claims upon purely technical grounds. Ordinarily, motions to quash indictments are based upon matters suggested by the record; whereas, pleas in abatement are founded upon allegations of fact dehors the record. U. S. v. Goldman (D. C.) 28 F.(2d) 424, 432. The pleas in abatement in each instance contain the following allegations:
The plea in abatement filed by the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company contains, in addition to the above quoted, the following allegation:
As to paragraph 1 of the pleas in abatement, there is the allegation that Stewart and Young were employees of the Interstate Commerce Commission, but that is as far as it goes. There is nothing said as to whether or not Stewart and Young were employees of the railroad company, nor is any reason given why they could not have knowledge of the facts in connection with the offenses. The fact that they were employed by the Interstate Commerce Commission is no reason at all. Here the pleas lack the certainty which is required in pleas in abatement, and the court will not supply the omissions.
At this point I shall refer to some of the general principles which are applicable to pleas in abatement in criminal cases and which may be applied to the pleas filed in this case.
" " United States v. Janes (D. C.) 74 F. 543, 544.
"It is well settled that pleas in abatement are not favored in law, that they are to be strictly construed, and that the courts will not supply omissions therefrom." Hillman v. United States (C. C. A.) 192 F. 264, 267.
United States v. Standard Oil Co. of Indiana (D. C.) 154 F. 728, 733.
Olmstead v. United States (C. C. A.) 19 F.(2d) 842, 845, 53 A. L. R. 1472.
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