Dunbar v. United States

by David Josiah Brewer

United States Supreme Court

156 U.S. 185

Dunbar  v.  United States

On July 14, 1893, there was returned into the district court of the United States for the district of Oregon an indictment against the defendant, William Dunbar, now plaintiff in error, charging him in five counts, under section 2865, Rev. St., with the crime of smuggling. On November 25, 1893, there was also filed in the same court a second indictment, charging him in nine counts with a violation of section 3082, Rev. St.

Section 2865 provides: 'If any person shall knowingly and wilfully, with intent to defraud the revenue of the United States, smuggle, or clandestinely introduce, into the United States, any goods, wares, or merchandise, subject to duty by law, and which should have been invoiced, without paying or accounting for the duty, * * * every such person * * * shall be deemed guilty.' The charge in the third count of the first indictment was 'that on the 2d day of September, 1892, in the state of Oregon and in the district of Oregon, and within the jurisdiction of this court, the said William Dunbar did, on the steamship Haytian Republic, a steamship plying between the port of Portland, Oregon, in the United States, and Vancouver, in the province of British Columbia, Dominion of Canada, willfully, unlawfully, and knowingly, and with intent to defraud the revenues of the United States, smuggle and clandestinely introduce into the United States, to wit, into the state of Oregon, and within the jurisdiction of this court, and from a foreign country, to wit, the province of British Columbia, in the Dominion of Canada, certain goods, wares, and merchandise, to wit, a large quantity of prepared opium, being about 1,400 pounds of prepared opium, the exact number of pounds being to the grand jury unknown, of the value of $15,400, subject to duty by law, to wit, a duty of twelve dollars ($12) per pound, and which should have been invoiced, without paying or accounting for said duty or any part thereof, and without having said opium or any part thereof invoiced, contrary to the form of the statutes in such cases made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the United States of America.' The fourth count was different only in the time and the amount of opium charged to have been smuggled.

Section 3082 is as follows: 'If any person shall fraudulently or knowingly import or bring into the United States, or assist in so doing, any merchandise, contrary to law, or shall receive, conceal, buy, sell, or in any manner facilitate the transportation, concealment, or sale of such merchandise after importation, knowing the same to have been imported contrary to law, such merchandise shall be forfeited and the offender shall be fined,' etc. The substance of the second, fourth, and fifth counts of the second indictment was that the defendant did 'willfully, unlawfully, and knowingly, and with intent to defraud the revenues of the United States, smuggle and clandestinely introduce into the United States' certain amounts of prepared opium. The ninth count charged that 'on the 5th day of February, 1893, said William Dunbar, in the district of Oregon, and within the jurisdiction of this court, did willfully, unlawfully, fraudulently, and knowingly, and with intent to defraud the revenues of the United States, facilitate the transportation after importation of a large quantity of prepared opium, to wit, about 200 pounds of prepared opium, the exact number of pounds being to the grand jury unknown, which prepared opium was subject to a duty by law, to wit, to a duty of twelve dollars ($12) per pound, and which should have been invoiced, and which prepared opium, on said 5th day of February, 1893, had been knowingly, willfully, unlawfully, and fraudulently brought, imported, smuggled, and clandestinely introduced into the United States and into the district of Oregon, and within the jurisdiction of this court from a foreign country, to wit, from the province of British Columbia, Dominion of Canada, and upon which prepared opium no duty had been paid or accounted for according to law, and none of said prepared opium had been invoiced, he, the said William Dunbar, then and there well knowing that no duty had been paid or accounted for according to law on said prepared opium, and that none of said prepared opium had been invoiced, and that the same and the whole thereof had been unlawfully, willfully, knowingly, and fraudulently brought, imported, smuggled, and clandestinely introduced into the United States and into the district of Oregon from said foreign country, said province of British Columbia, in said Dominion of Canada as aforesaid; that the said William Dunbar did then and there facilitate the transportation of said opium, after importation, by packing the same in trunks, and causing the same to be transported as baggage from Portland, Oregon, to San Francisco, California, contrary to the _____ of statute in such cases made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the United States.'

On November 27, 1893, the court made an order consolidating the two cases for trial. Upon the trial of the consolidated cases, the jury returned a verdict of guilty, as charged in the six counts above referred to of the two indictments. A motion for a new trial having been overruled, judgment was entered sentencing the defendant to pay a fine of $1,000, and to be imprisoned for a term of two years. To reverse such judgment and sentence, the defendant sued out this writ of error.

Mr. Justice Field dissenting.

John H. Mitchell, for plaintiff in error.

Asst. Atty. Gen. Conrad, for the United States.

Mr. Justice BREWER, after stating the facts in the foregoing language, delivered the opinion of the court.

Notes