Vinto Products Co. v. Goddard

• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota
• Writing for the Court: SANBORN
• Citation: Vinto Products Co. v. Goddard, 43 F.2d 399 (D. Minn. 1930)
• Decision Date: 11 September 1930
• Parties: VINTO PRODUCTS CO. v. GODDARD, U. S. Com'r, et al.

43 F.2d 399 (1930)

VINTO PRODUCTS CO. v. GODDARD, U. S. Com'r, et al.

District Court, D. Minnesota, Third Division.

September 11, 1930.

Brill & Maslon, of Minneapolis, Minn., for plaintiff.

L. L. Drill, U. S. Atty., and Robert V. Rensch, Asst. U. S. Atty., both of St. Paul, Minn., for defendants.

SANBORN, District Judge.

Under the search warrant, the validity of which is attacked, the defendants, or some of them, have come into possession of the stock of goods formerly possessed by the plaintiff. The goods consist generally of those which may be found in any store whose business is that of supplying the requirements of the manufacturers of beer or other intoxicating liquors.

The search warrant is attacked on three grounds:

(1) That the description of the premises to be searched is too broad;

(2) That the description of the property to be seized is insufficient;

(3) That the facts stated in the affidavit upon which the search warrant was issued are insufficient to justify a finding of probable cause by the Commissioner.

The affidavit describes the premises as, "the place known as `Vinto Products Company,' located in the one-story brick building at number 281 East 7th Street, in the City of St. Paul, County of Ramsey, in said State (Minnesota)."

The search warrant refers to the premises to be searched as, "the malt store known as the `Vinto Products Company,' located in the one story brick building at number 281 East Seventh Street, in the City of St. Paul, in the County of Ramsey, and State of Minnesota, and all appurtenances to said malt store used in connection therewith, being the only malt store so described and so located."

Under the authority of Gerahty v. United States (C. C. A.) 29 F.(2d) 8, and Steele v. United States, 267 U. S. 505, 45 S. Ct. 417, 69 L. Ed. 761, the description in the warrant is not too broad. It is true that the exact point was not discussed in the Steele Case, but the sufficiency of the warrant was in issue, and the fact that the description of the property was broader in the warrant than it was in the affidavit was obvious. I think it may properly be assumed that the Supreme Court would not overlook such a defect.

For other cases in which the descriptions in search warrants were apparently broader than descriptions in the underlying affidavits, see Baker v. United States (C. C. A.) 4 F.(2d) 805; Hogrefe v. United States (C. C. A.) 30 F.(2d) 640; Levee v. United States (C. C. A.) 29 F.(2d) 187; United States v. Yablonsky (D. C.) 8 F.(2d) 318.

Furthermore, there is no claim here that any search was made other than the search of the storeroom specifically described in the affidavit.

The description of the property which the officers were directed to seize is the "stock of goods, or utensils, instruments materials, or property there kept in carrying on said violation." The affidavit, which is attached, and to which recourse may be had, states, generally, what the stock consists of, and the warrant applied for is one to search for and seize all of the stock, upon the claim of the government and its assertion of probable cause contained in the affidavit that all of it is being used for the purpose of violating the law. There could have been a more detailed description, but an officer reading it could reasonably understand that he was directed to do what was done in this case. See Petition of Barber (D. C.) 281 F. 550; U. S. v. Kaplan (D. C.) 16 F.(2d) 802.

My conclusion is that the warrant sufficiently describes the property to be seized.

As to the showing of probable cause, the affidavit of the agent states that he is familiar with the stock of goods kept for sale in this place; that it consists of articles such as malt syrup or malt extract, flavored with hops, charred oak kegs and barrels, oak chips, bottles such as are used for containing beer or whisky, brandy,...