People v. One 1939 Plymouth 6 Coupe

KNIGHT, J.

The state appeals from a portion of a judgment entered in a proceeding brought by the state under the authority of the State Narcotic Act for the forfeiture of a 1939 Plymouth coupe automobile, sold under a conditional sales contract and seized for an alleged violation of the provisions of said act. The principal contention made by the state is that the evidence is insufficient to sustain the findings and the judgment.

The coupe was sold in Oroville, Butte County, on November 15, 1938, by W. C. Lortz, a local dealer, to Austin L. Abbott, a resident of that city for many years. A used car was turned in as a down payment at an agreed valuation of $372,

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and the balance of the purchase price was made payable in twenty-four successive monthly installments of $27.26 each. The Oroville branch of the Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association financed the sale, drew the conditional sales contract, took an assignment thereof from Lortz, and was named as the legal owner in the certificate of registration. The coupe was seized on December 12, 1938, in Alameda County by a local deputy sheriff shortly after midnight, while it was parked alongside of the main HaywardNiles highway just outside of Hayward. All of the lights of the coupe, including the interior dome light, were lit, and Abbott was the sole occupant thereof. He was preparing a solution of morphine, and was apparently about to inject it into his arm with a hypodermic needle attached to an improvised ‘1 dripper ’ ’ when the officer, whose presence was unobserved by Abbott, opened the door of the coupe and placed him under arrest. A small quantity of powdered morphine was exposed on the seat of the coupe, and a little later, when Abbott was searched in Hayward, a small portion of opium was found on his person. He told the officers he had purchased the drugs in Oakland. A more thorough search of the coupe revealed nothing incriminating therein.

The State Narcotic Act provides that

“Any automobile or other vehicle used or intended to be used to conceal, convey, carry, or transport any of the drugs mentioned in section 1 of this act,

and any automobile or vehicle in which any of the drugs mentioned in section 1 of this act are unlawfully possessed by an occupant thereof, shall be forfeited to the State of California ...” (Italics ours) ; and as shown by the notice of seizure filed by the state, the present forfeiture proceeding was based on the clause of the act above italicized. Abbott did not appear, and his interest was declared forfeited. The bank, however, filed a verified answer, and as a result of the hearing the trial court found in conformity with the denials and allegations of the answer, first, that at the time of the seizure the coupe was not being used for the particular unlawful purpose specified in the notice of seizure; and secondly, that in any event the rights of the bank were created after a reasonable investigation of the moral responsibility, character and reputation of Abbott. Therefore, in accordance with the provisions of the act the judgment decreed that the interests of the bank were not forfeited, and