Dodd v. State
Dodd v. State
Opinion of the Court
Section 7 of an act “to provide for the maintenance, improvement and protection of the public roads and bridges of St. Clair County,” etc. (Local Acts 1907, pp. 111, 115), provides that “the court of county commissioners of St. Clair county shall have the power at any time from the passage of this act: * * * (2) To require persons operating sawmills in the county, when the logs or lumber or any portion thereof is hauled over the public roads of the county, or any specific portion thereof, to first secure a license from the
But, assuming the sufficiency of the indictment in the case at bar, yet the conviction under it cannot be sustained, as the evidence offered in support of it did not show anything for which a license had been prescribed. By the agreed statement of facts, it appears that the order or decree made by the court of county commissioners provided “that all persons or corporations shall be and are hereby required to take out a license for the privilege of running drays or wagons hauling logs and lumber and machinery over any of the public roads of St. Clair county at the following rates: Two horse, mule, or ox, wagon or dray, $5 per annum; four horse, mule, or ox, wagon or dray, $7.50; six horse, mule, or ox, wagon or dray, $10; eight horse, mule or ox wagon or dray, $15.” From this it plainly appears that the requirement of a license applied only to persons or corporations “running drays or wagons hauling logs and lumber and machinery over any of the public roads of St. Clair county.” The agreed statement of facts recites that “the defendant did haul logs or lumber over a public road in St. Clair county, Ala., in the Northern judicial division of said county, to wit, a public road leading from Ashville to Whiting; that said R. J. Dodd had no license from the probate judge of said county for said purpose.” It was not made to appear that the hauling done by the defendant was in the mode of involving a violation of the order or decree, when done without a license, as it was not shown that he ran a dray or wagon, or how he hauled logs or lumber along or across a public road. The general affirmative charge requested by the defendant should have been given, as the evidence did not support the charge made in the indictment.
Reversed and remanded.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.