Williams v. Commonwealth
| Decision Date | 21 November 1949 |
| Docket Number | Record No. 3565.,Record No. 3567.,Record No. 3566. |
| Citation | 190 Va. 280 |
| Court | Virginia Supreme Court |
| Parties | T. H. WILLIAMS, ET ALS. v. COMMONWEALTH. TRAVIS DELEON TRIPLETTE v. COMMONWEALTH. TRAVIS DELEON TRIPLETTE v. COMMONWEALTH. |
2. That Virginia may, in order to protect herself from illicit liquor traffic within her borders, subject the transportation of liquor in and through the Commonwealth to regulations promulgated by the A.B.C. Board is definitely settled. That such regulations are not invalid is likewise settled.
3. Judicial notice is a short cut to avoid the necessity for the formal introduction of evidence in certain cases where there is no need for such evidence. It is a rule of necessity and public policy in the expedition of trials. It relieves the party from offering evidence because the matter is one which the judge either knows or can easily discover.
4. That a matter is judicially noted means merely that it is taken as true without the offering of evidence by the party who should ordinarily have done so, but the opponent is not prevented from disputing the matter, if he believes it disputable.
5. Accused was arrested for transporting liquor in violation of regulations of the A.B.C. Board. Section 4675(5) of the Code of 1942 (Michie) provides that such regulations be published at least once, and that upon publication they shall have the force and effect of law; that the Board shall certify copies of the regulations to the clerks of all circuit and city courts of record having criminal jurisdiction, who shall keep them on file for public inspection; and that courts shall take judicial notice of such regulations made, published and filed as so provided. Accused contended that the trial court erred in taking judicial notice of the regulations on the ground that it had not been shown that they had been made, published and filed or certified in such manner as to become effective in the county in which he was arrested and insisted that the Commonwealth was not relieved of the burden of showing that they had been made, published and filed in accordance with section 4675(5), before judicial notice could be taken of them. The clerk of the circuit court for the county testified that, after a search, he found on file in the safe in his office a book containing the regulations, but that he did not know how or when it got there and that he did not find it certified in any way. The book contained a certificate signed and attested in due form by the chairman and secretary of the Board that it had been adopted as an official printed copy of the regulations, which had become effective after adoption in accordance with section 4675(5). The recitation of the certificate that the requirements of this section had been complied with covered the making and publishing of the regulations and certification thereof to the clerks of courts, including the county in which defendant was arrested. That the regulations so certified were found in the clerk's office furnished further proof of full compliance by the Board. The fact that the clerk was unaware the book was there and did not know how it got there was immaterial under the circumstances and his failure to keep the regulations on file for public inspection did not affect their validity. They became fully effective when the Board complied with its duty.
6. The manifest purpose of section 4675(5)(c) of the Code of 1942 (Michie) is to do away with the necessity of the Commonwealth introducing evidence to show due adoption of the regulations of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. By express statute the courts are required to take such notice of the regulations of the Board as is taken of general statutory laws.
7. In a proceeding for the condemnation of a truck confiscated for illegal transportation of whiskey, claimants, trading in North Carolina as a motor company, filed an answer under oath asserting that they had a bona fide lien on the truck on a reservation of title contract, which was recorded on the face of the North Carolina title and had been perfected, and prayed that the truck be released to them or their lien recognized and protected. The certificate of title was filed with the answer and the chattel mortgage and bond mentioned in the answer were introduced in evidence. It was conceded that there was no proof that the alleged lien had been perfected by registration of the chattel mortgage under the laws of North Carolina, and that there was no statutory provision in that state similar to section 4675(38a)(i) of the Code of 1942 (Michie) providing that endorsement of lien on the certificate of title of a motor vehicle shall make any recordation of the same unnecessary. There had been no recordation of the lien in Virginia. The trial court properly ordered the truck confiscated, holding that claimants had failed to register or record their chattel mortgage in accordance with statutory requirements, since the recordation provisions of section 4675(38a)(i) could not be held to be effective as a statute of recordation in North Carolina.
ERROR to judgments of the Circuit Court of Wythe county. Hon. John S. Draper, judge presiding.
The opinion states the case.
Stuart B. Campbell and George P. Young, for the plaintiffs in error.
J. Lindsay Almond, Jr., Attorney General, and H. T. Williams, Jr., Junior Attorney, for the Commonwealth.
On November 3, 1947, Travis DeLeon Triplette was arrested in Wythe county, Virginia, on a warrant charging him with the unlawful transportation of alcoholic beverages in excess of one gallon, in violation of Virginia Code, 1942 (Michie), section 4675(49a) of "The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act of Virginia," and sections 42, 43 and 44 of the Regulations of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. At the same time, a Ford truck, Motor No. 99 T-908159, bearing North Carolina license No. 892038, occupied or in the possession of Triplette, together with its cargo of 193 cases of whiskey, was seized in pursuance of Virginia Code, 1942 (Michie), section 4675(38a).
Upon a hearing before the trial justice of Wythe county, Triplette was found guilty of illegally transporting the said whiskey and the whiskey was ordered to be confiscated. An information was filed in the Circuit Court of Wythe county, praying that the confiscated truck be condemned and sold and the proceeds thereof disposed of according to law. The information, together with appeals from the judgment of conviction of Triplette and the order of confiscation of the whiskey, were duly matured for hearing in the circuit court.
In the proceeding for the condemnation of the truck, T. H. Williams and Mrs. T. H. Williams, trading as Williams Motor Company of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, filed an answer under oath asserting that they had a "bona fide" first lien on the truck on a "reservation of title contract" dated April 28th, 1947, whereby they "reserved title to the said motor vehicle until the full amount of the purchase price of $1,300 was paid;" that there was a balance of $600 due, plus interest, on said contract, evidenced by a promissory, negotiable bond of Triplette; that their contract with Triplette provided that in the event he failed to pay the balance of the purchase price, the vendors could retake possession of the truck, sell it, and apply the proceeds of the sale, so far as necessary, in payment of the balance due on said bond, with interest and costs; that their lien to secure the unpaid purchase money on the truck was recorded on the face of the certificate of title to the truck, issued by the State of North Carolina to Triplette; that they had perfected their lien against the said truck; and that an illegal use, if any, of the truck was without their connivance or consent, express or implied. They prayed that the truck be released to them, or failing in this, that the court recognize and protect their lien to the extent of the amount due thereon.
The certificate of title to the truck was filed with the answer.
By agreement of the parties, the three proceedings, namely, the charge against Triplette, the information against the Ford truck, and the order for the forfeiture of the whiskey found in the said truck, all arising out of the same transaction and involving identical questions of fact and of law, except as hereinafter noted, were consolidated and tried together. All matters of law and fact were submitted to the trial court and heard without the intervention of a jury. The evidence presented was considered as if introduced in each separate case.
The defendants demurred to the evidence, and the Commonwealth joined in the demurrer. Upon consideration, the trial court found Triplette guilty of illegally transporting ardent spirits in excess of one gallon into and through Virginia, and fixed his punishment at a fine of $500 and ninety days in jail, the jail sentence being suspended. It condemned and ordered to be sold the Ford truck transporting the liquor and the proceeds from the sale forfeited to...
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