Territory v. Reis
Territory v. Reis
Opinion of the Court
OPINION OP THE COURT BY
At the July term, 1913, of the circuit court of the fifth circuit, trial by jury being waived, the defendant, Manuel Reis, was convicted and sentenced to pay a fine of one hundred dollars on a charge that he did, on May 23, 1913, at Lihue, county of Kauai, “unlawfully distribute for sale certain intoxicating liquors * * * , he not having a -license so to do, in and upon a conveyance then and there being driven along a highway * * *■ »
There being no objection to the form of the charge we will assume that the charge is sufficient under Act 119, Laws of 1907, as amended by Act 70, Laws of 1913.
The defendant excepted to the conviction as being contrary to the law and the evidence. The case is now before us on this exception.
The trial court in its decision made the following findings: “The defendant, Manuel Reis, was an employee of Rosa & Co., a partnership doing business in Honolulu as wholesale liquor dealers under a license issued by the Board of License Commissioners of the City and County of Honolulu. As employee his duties were to solicit orders for intoxicating liquor on the Island of Kauai, to transmit these orders, which were written on order blanks furnished him by his employers, to them and to collect bills on Kauai. His instructions from his employers contained nothing on the subject of delivery and he had no authority to definitely accept orders. He kept no stock of liquors. In the regular course of business the final acceptance or rejection
The contention of the prosecution is, that Rosa & Co. retained possession of and control over the liquor until actual delivery to the purchasers, and that title did not pass until such delivery.
The defendant contends that the sale of the liquor was made in Honolulu, for the reasons, (1) that he had no power or authority to make a sale or offer for sale any liquor, (2) that all orders were subject to the acceptance or rejection of Rosa & Co., (3) that title passed upon segregation of the liquor from the common stock and delivery to the common carrier. And that no reservation of title was made by Rosa & Co., for the reasons, (1) that the liquor was consigned to the purchasers and delivered to the common carrier, (2) that the liquor was sold on credit, (3) that the orders were not O. 0. D. orders, and (4) that the shipping receipts were sent to the defendant as the agent of the purchasers.
There is no evidence in the record tending to prove any of the following findings made by the trial court: That “the defendant stated in court that the liquor did not belong to the purchasers as it had not been delivered and that because the sale had not been completed he had not presented the bills;” that “he has looked to Rosa & Co. to provide him with counsel;” that he “has refused to hire counsel himself;” that he “has not .looked for help to the purchasers who requested him to make the delivery that has resulted in his arrest;” and that “the purchasers have not appeared and claimed the liquor as would be natural and appropriate if they considered themselves to be' the owners.”
As to the findings regarding the employment of counsel by the defendant and the failure of the purchasers to appear and claim the liquor, assuming these facts to be as found by the trial court, there is nothing in any of them tending to criminate the defendant. He had the right to employ counsel or not as he saw fit. Neither should the failure of the purchasers to appear and claim the liquor be taken as evidence against him. The motives with which the purchasers were actuated in no way concerned or involved the defendant. One charged with a criminal offense is only required to answer for his own acts, and not for the acts of others, or their failure to act.
It is true that “the buyers dealt not with Rosa & Co. in Honolulu, but with the defendant on Kauai,” but they dealt with him as the duly authorized agent of Rosa & Co. in his capacity as solicitor of orders for liquor, and their contract for the purchase of the liquor was with Rosa & Co. and not with the defendant. When the purchasers “handed their orders to Reis,” addressed as they were to Rosa & Co., they thereby sent “their orders to Rosa & Co.” for the purchase and shipment of the liquor to them. And upon requesting the defendant to go to the wharf and'receive the liquor for them and deliver it “at their homes or places of business on Kauai,” they thereby constituted him their agent and impliedly authorized him to take all necessary and proper steps in the premises to obtain possession of the liquor, which, obviously, justified having the shipping receipts sent direct to him by Rosa & Co. It is clear, we think, that the defendant in making delivery of the liquor pursuant to this arrangement acted as the agent of the purchasers and not as the agent of Rosa & Co. The evidence did not warrant a finding to the contrary. The defendant in performing the services thus requested of him occupied a position in no way different from that of any other person whom the purchasers might have employed to perform the same work.
There is nothing in the record tending to show that payment was a condition precedent to actual delivery of the liquor, or that Rosa & Co., in addition to their common law right of stoppage in transitu, sought through the defendant, or otherwise, to retain control or dominion over the liquor after delivery to the common carrier, or that the purchasers “considered,” or had any right to consider, the actual delivery of the liquor to them at their homes or places of business on Kauai as “a part of their contract with Rosa & Co.” The record is clear that the only duties required of the defendant by Rosa & Co. were to solicit orders for liquor and to make collections. He had no power to bind them. They reserved the right to reject or accept any order. Thus, upon the acceptance of an order and delivery of the liquor to the common carrier in Honolulu for shipment to the purchasers on Kauai, the title, in the absence of any evidence of a contrary intention, passed from the vendors to the vendees,
While Rosa & Co. did not undertake the actual delivery of the liquor to the purchasers on Kauai, we do not wish to be understood as holding that they could not have lawfully made such delivery. That question, however, is not involved in this case. Sarbecker v. State, 65 Wis. 171; Com. v. Ober, 12 Cush. (Mass.) 493; Com. v Hess, 17 L. R. A. (Pa.) 176.
The prosecution relies upon Republic v. Hime, 11 Haw. 18. In that case Hime was convicted of the offense of selling spirituous liquor without a license at Lahaina, where he was storekeeper for H. Hackfeld & Co., of Honolulu. He sent to Honolulu for a tub of sake for one Shimbo. Hpon arrival of the sake Hime delivered the shipping receipt to Shimbo and received from him at the same time the price of the sake. Shimbo dealt solely with Hime and did not know Hackfeld & Co. in the transaction. He did not know where the liquor was to be obtained. The sale and delivery of the sake was, therefore, made in Lahaina, not in Honolulu; while the sale and delivery of the liquor in the case at bar was made in Honolulu and not on Kauai.
There being no evidence tending to show the alleged guilt of the defendant, the exception to the conviction is sustained, the conviction and judgment are set aside, and the cause remanded to the circuit court with instructions to discharge the defendant.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- TERRITORY OF HAWAII v. MANUEL REIS
- Status
- Published