Kirk v. State ex rel. Craig
Kirk v. State ex rel. Craig
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting). After careful reading and thorough study of the record, I am of the opinion that, under the facts proved in this forfeiture proceeding coupled with logical inferences reasonably drawn therefrom, the automobile seized was being used in the unlawful transportation of intoxicating liquor; that the search of the car was incident to lawful arrest of the driver of it, for the offense of reckless driving committed in the presence of the officers; that under the provisions of 37 O. S. 1941 § 111, the automobile is subject to forfeiture, and that the judgment of the trial court forfeiting it to the state is correct, and should be affirmed.
I therefore dissent.
Opinion of the Court
About 10:30 p.m. on December 7, 1948, two Ponca City policemen saw a Lincoln sedan drive into the driveway at the home of a party, reputed to be a bootlegger. They noted the license number of the car. They watched from a distance and observed a man in khaki clothes pass through the lights of the car and saw several persons going back and forth between
Both this case and the criminal case were tried before the county judge, after a jury was waived.
For reversal defendant urges several assignments of error and argues them under two propositions. In view of our conclusion, it is necessary to consider only the second proposition wherein the defendant contends that the trial court erred in rendering judgment for defendant in error and that said judgment is not supported by the evidence.
This contention of defendant must be sustained. In Kirk v. State, _ Okla. Cr. _, 223 P. 2d 558, the Criminal Court of Appeals reversed the conviction, and held:
“Where an information charges accused with the offense of transporting intoxicating liquor, it is essential to sustain conviction that the state prove either by direct or circumstantial evidence the transportation of such liquor. The fact that whisky was found in parked automobile without any other evidence to show a transportation was insufficient to sustain conviction for transportation of intoxicating liquor.”
When the officers made the arrest the Lincoln car was standing on a private driveway. No witness saw the defendant drive the car at any time when it was known that there was whisky in it. The fact that the defendant had driven the same car at a high rate of speed in avoiding arrest one-half hour previous to the time that whisky was found in the car was a mere circumstance leading one to believe that the whisky might have been in the car at that time. The Criminal Court of Appeals (in Kirk v. State, supra) said that it is a matter of pure conjecture or surmise that the car had whisky in it when- it was seen by the policemen speeding out of town, and that the hypothesis that the whisky was placed in the car at the home of Jimmie Arnold, who was said by the officers to be a confirmed whisky man, is just as reasonable as to say that it was there during the chase. All four officers testified that they did not know that there was whisky in the car until found there after the arrest.
The only authority for forfeiture of an automobile in this kind of proceeding arises under Tit. 37 O. S. 1941 §111. That authority depends entirely upon use of the vehicle in transporting prohibited liquor from one place to another within the state in violation of law. The Criminal Court of Appeals, in its opinion, in Kirk v. State, supra, said that the reversal of the case would not
In ODell v. State ex rel. Field, 193 Okla. 680, 147 P. 2d 154, this court upheld a judgment of forfeiture of a car which had been driven at a speed of 80 miles per hour when pursued by officers. But in that case the evidence clearly showed a transportation of liquor.
The Criminal Court of Appeals has discharged the defendant Kirk from further prosecution on the charge of transporting. We have examined the record in that case and the evidence was substantially the same as in this case. We are in accord with the Criminal Court of Appeals in holding that the evidence did not etablish an unlawful transportation. The evidence does not sustain a judgment of forfeiture.
Judgment reversed.
Reference
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- Kirk v. State Ex Rel. Craig.
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- Syllabus
- (Syllabus.) INTOXICATING LIQUORS — Order of forfeiture of motor vehicle reversed where evidence failed to establish use of vehicle in transportation of intoxicating liquor from one place to another within state in violation of law. Authority for forfeiture of a motor vehicle under Tit. 37 O.S. 1941 § 111[37-111], requires evidence clearly establishing use of such vehicle in the transportation of prohibited intoxicating liquor from one place to another within the state, in violation of law, and where the evidence fails to establish such transportation as a fact, an order of forfeiture of such vehicle will be reversed by this court.