People v. Haacke

BURNETT, J.

The defendant was charged by indictment by the grand jury of the county of Mendocino with the crime of selling alcoholic liquor in no-license territory. He was thereupon duly tried and convicted of the offense charged. He moved for a new trial, which motion was denied, and he was thereupon sentenced to pay a fine of five hundred dollars and to imprisonment in the county jail for a term of six months. Defendant prosecutes this appeal from the order and the judgment.

But two points are urged by appellant: (1) That the court erred in overruling objections to the admissibility of evidence, •and (2) that the court was guilty of misconduct, in that it made a statement to the jury which had the effect of thereafter bearing improperly upon their verdict.

Briefly, the facts appear as follows: It being suspected that defendant Haacke was “blind-pigging,” one William Lair was employed by Mr. Vann, the constable, to purchase liquor from defendant. Two bottles, securely wrapped in newspaper, of what was supposed to be wine and sold as such were purchased and promptly turned over to Mr. Vann. This occurred on July 23, 1916. Vann placed the bottles, just as he received them, in a trunk at his home, and removed them only when it was necessary to produce them before the grand jury and at the trial. It appears that the trunk was rarely locked and that all of Vann’s family had access to it. It does not appear that anyone else had access to the trunk. The hearing before the grand jury was held in December, 1916, and the trial had on January 18, 1917. Upon the offer of the two bottles, together with their contents, in evidence, objection was made by defendant that no foundation had been laid, that there was no preliminary showing that the contents were the same on the day of trial as when originally taken. An examination of the record, however, discloses sufficient evidence to justify the admission of the bottles. Though Vann admits that his wife and children “could” have got at

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the bottles, the clear inference from his testimony is that they did not. He testifies positively that he never changed the contents, that the original paper was still around the bottles just as when they were purchased, that there were no indications whatever that the bottles had been tampered with, and that it appeared to him to be the same “stuff.” Though the bottles passed through the hands of several other persons, each took the stand and testified that he had not altered the contents. At most defendant shows a mere possibility for one to have molested the bottles. But as declared in