Ex parte Francis

Citations

• 76 Fla. 304
• 79 So. 753
• 2 A.L.R. 1068
• 1918 Fla. LEXIS 313

Syllabus

<p>Habeas Corpus — Constitutionality of Criminal Statute May Be Tested by — Chapter 7284, Laws Approved May 1st, 1917, Held To Be Unconstitutifnal —Intoxicating Liquors — Constitutional Law.</p> <p>1. An information charging in six separate counts that the defendant:</p> <p>(1) Did unlawfully transport from a County in this State where the sale of intoxicating liquors is lawful, into a County where such sales were prohibited by an election held to decide such question of prohibition, two quarts of whiskey and four quarts of wine intended for the personal use of the defendant.</p> <p>(2) The second count is a duplicate of the first count except that it omits the allegation that the liquors transported were intended for the personal use of the defendant.</p> <p>(3) That the defendant is said County where the sale of such intoxicating liquors had been prohibited by an election held to establish prohibition therein did possess two quarts of whiskey and four quarts of wine, that were received by him from a carrier within a thirty-day period, the said liquors so possessed being then and there intended for the defendant’s personal use.</p> <p>(4) The fourth count is a duplicate of the third count except that it omits the allegation that the liquors so possessed were intended for the personal use of the defendant.</p> <p>(5) That the defendant did personally transport into said prohibition territory for his own personal use two quarts of whiskey and four quarts of wine.</p> <p>(6) The sixth count is a duplicate of the fifth count except that the allegation that the liquors transported were for the defendant’s own use is omitted. Held, to charge no offense in any Court thereof under any valid law of this State. Held further that Chapter 7284 Laws approved May 1st, 1917, undertaking to penalize the acts charged against the defendant in said information is unconstitutional and void.</p> <p>2. Intoxicating liquor is property that is the subject of private ownership as such, and