Commonwealth, Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board v. Argonne Tavern, Inc.
Commonwealth, Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board v. Argonne Tavern, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County reversed an order of the Liquor Control Board suspending the restaurant liquor license of Argonne Tavern, Inc. for thirty days. Argonne was cited and suspended for violating Section 491(10) of the Liquor Code
In J¡00 Lounge, the licensed establishment employed 13 persons, including 10 bartenders, contained five bars and had capacity for 600 patrons. The licensee there had no prior record of violations. Of the sis bottles tested only one, when tested against a single control bottle, was found to contain liquor with characteristics so different from that of its labeled brand that refilling was indicated. The Superior Court ruled that those circumstances and the fact that the state chemist analyzed the deviant bottle only by comparison with one unopened bottle overcame the presumption. The facts of the present case are much different. Argonne’s owner testified in the court hearing that only he and his wife worked for Argonne. Argonne has been cited for Sunday sales, sales between the hours of 2:00 A.M. and 7:00 A.M., maintain
Argonne offered no evidence except its owner’s testimony that he was the only person working in the bar when the offense was allegedly committed and that he had not refilled any bottles that day. We hold that this evidence was insufficient to rebut the presumption based on possession that the licensee knew of the violation of the statute. Commonwealth v. Speer, 157 Pa. Superior Ct. 197, 42 A.2d 94 (1945).
Order
And Now, this 1st day of June, 1977, the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County sustaining the licensee’s appeal is reversed and the order of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board suspending Argonne’s license for thirty days is reinstated.
Act of April 12, 1951, P.L. 90, as amended, 47 P.S. §4-491(10).
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.