Commonwealth v. Jacobson
Commonwealth v. Jacobson
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The appellant is a wholesale liquor dealer residing in Youngstown, Ohio, where he has a warehouse for the purpose of his business. When the case was first presented to this court it appeared from the record that no issue had ever been arrived at in the court below, the defendant had not even filed a plea, but the parties had agreed upon certain facts, in the nature of a case stated, which they had submitted for the judgment of the court. The irregularity of this practice was called to the attention of the parties and, there being no dispute as to the facts, counsel being desirous of having the case disposed of upon its merits, they agreed upon certain amendments in the court below and the record now certified to
In criminal cases a demurrer to the evidence of the Commonwealth admits all the facts which the evidence tends to prove and all inferences reasonably deducible therefrom. The admissions implied in the demurrer leave for consideration the single inquiry whether the evidence introduced presents such a state of facts, with the inferences fairly arising therefrom, as would support a verdict of guilty by a jury: Commonwealth v. Williams, in Avhich an opinion Avas recently filed by our Brother Henderson, 71 Pa. Superior Ct. 311. Applying this principle to the admissions of the defendant, the learned judge of the court beloAV Avas fully warranted in finding the folloAving facts: The appellant employed a large number of agents to solicit orders for intoxicating liquors by a house to house canvass in a number of the boroughs of the County of Mercer, Pennsylvania, and authorized said agents to agree with the persons from whom they received orders that the liquors would be delivered at the respective residences of the purchasers, in Mercer County. Said agents succeeded in obtaining orders for large quantities of liquor and in the case of each sale contracted, as they were authorized by the defendant to do, that the goods should be delivered at the residence of the purchaser. When the agents received the orders they took or transmitted them to the Jacobson Bros. Company, of which company this defendant was the manager, at Youngstown, Ohio. The Jacobson Bros. Company then took from the stock in their warehouse at Youngstown, Ohio, a package containing the quantity of liquor corresponding to each order and to it attached a card.
The Jacobson Bros. Company, through this defendant, occupied a combined store and stable in the Borough of Sharon, Mercer County, to which large quantities of liquor, which had been ordered by different parties and to the packages containing which were attached cards bearing the printing and writing first above indicated, were taken in motor trucks, owned by the defendant and operated by his,employees, from the wholesale store of the Jacobson Bros. Company in Youngstown, Ohio. Each package was stamped to indicate the contents of the package, and each package bore a tag, or card, upon which was printed, “The Jacobson Bros. Company, Sharon, Pa.,” under which were the printed words “The property of,” followed by the written name, street and house number of the purchaser of the liquor. When the liquor had thus been transported from the State of Ohio to Sharon, Pa., it was unloaded from large trucks by the employees of the defendant and the packages placed in said storeroom, and subsequently said packages were loaded on smaller trucks and wagons by the employees of the defendant in Sharon and by them delivered to the purchasers of the liquor at their respective residences in Sharon, Pennsylvania. The liquors which were to be finally distributed by “The Shenango Transfer Co.,” at Sharon, Pa., were taken in the motor trucks owned by
An agreement to sell intoxicating liquor and to deliver it at the residence of the purchaser, without qualification, and a subsequent delivery of it at such residence is a sale at that place, and, unless the seller has a license to do so is a violation of law. This has been so often decided that further discussion of the question is unnecessary: Star Brewing Company’s License, 43 Pa. Superior Ct. 577. It is, however, contended on behalf of this appellant that his business was interstate commerce and not subject to the operation of the laws of the State of Pennsylvania. The contracts made by the agents of this defendant for the delivery of liquors in Mercer County did not involve a criminal offense so long as they were unexecuted, but they were unlawful and could not be enforced. This defendant brought the liquors from the State of Ohio into the State of Pennsylvania with the intention and for the
The judgment is affirmed and it is ordered that the defendant appear in the court below at such time as he may be there called and that he be by that court committed until he has complied Avith the sentence or any part of it which had not been performed at the time the appeal in this case was made a supersedeas.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.