United States v. One 1941 Buick Coach Automobile, Civ. A. No. 831.

• Decision Date: 01 July 1949
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 831.
• Parties: UNITED STATES v. ONE 1941 BUICK COACH AUTOMOBILE.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Alabama

85 F. Supp. 402

UNITED STATES v. ONE 1941 BUICK COACH AUTOMOBILE.

Civ. A. No. 831.

United States District Court S. D. Alabama, Southern Division.

July 1, 1949.

William H. Cowan, Assistant United States Attorney, Mobile, Alabama, for libellant.

Johnston, McCall & Johnston, Mobile, Alabama, for Robert E. Hoskins.

McDUFFIE, District Judge.

Findings of Fact.

Robert E. Hoskins, the claimant, rented a room at 254 N. Franklin Street, in the City of Mobile, Alabama, and regularly ate his meals at the Twilight Cafe, located at the corner of Davis Avenue and Clay Street, approximately twelve blocks from his rooming house. On the afternoon of January 13, 1949, Hoskins was approached by an unidentified white man, who engaged him to deliver three gallons of "moonshine" whiskey on which the revenue tax had not been paid. Hoskins agreed to meet the white man later in the evening in the vicinity of the Twilight Cafe and make delivery of this whiskey. Hoskins was driving the Buick automobile in issue and en route to the agreed meeting place, he picked up an acquaintance, one Ben Love, who rode with him to the Twilight Cafe, where Love got out of the automobile, went into the cafe, and ate his evening meal. Hoskins drove up Clay Street about one block from the cafe, parked the Buick automobile, and then walked back to Davis Avenue, where, as pre-arranged, he met the person who had engaged him to deliver the non-tax-paid whiskey. He entered this party's automobile and went with him to Hickory Street, in another section of Mobile, where they obtained three gallons of whiskey on which the Internal Revenue tax had not been paid, and the two then returned to the vicinity of Davis Avenue and Clay Street, where Hoskins got out of this vehicle, with the whiskey, went into a house on Clay Street approximately one-half block from where Hoskins had parked the Buick automobile, and was making delivery of the whiskey when he was arrested. There is no evidence of any distilled spirits having been in the Buick automobile, although Hoskins told one of the officers that he drove the automobile to Davis Avenue and Clay Street where he would have it to drive home.

The officers demanded and received from Hoskins the keys to his Buick automobile and were directed by Hoskins to the place on Clay Street where the Buick was parked. Ben Love was sitting in the front seat of the automobile when the officers arrived with Hoskins under arrest. The Buick automobile was seized and Hoskins was placed in jail. On this occasion, Hoskins did not eat his evening meal at the Twilight Cafe, as was his custom. The officers examined the glove compartment of the Buick automobile and found two or three wooden stoppers customarily used in wooden kegs.

On the following day the officers obtained a search warrant and searched the room occupied by Hoskins at 254 N. Franklin Street and found thirty-two and one-half gallons of whiskey, some of which was in kegs and some in one-gallon glass jugs, which Hoskins admitted owning. The stoppers found in Hoskins' car were of the same size used in the kegs of whiskey found in his room and the one-gallon glass jugs found in his room were identically the same kind as those seized the night before.

Hoskins is and was a known violator of the Internal Revenue...