State v. Shields

Citations

• 110 La. 547
• 34 So. 673
• 1903 La. LEXIS 669

Syllabus

<p>INTOXICATING LIQUORS — SALE AT RETAIL— WHAT CONSTITUTES — QUESTION EOR COURT.</p> <p>--1. This case has been tried upon an admission and agreement to the following effect, to wit: That the defendant S., acting in the parish of Winn as the agent of W., who is established as a liquor dealer in the parish of Ouachita, solicited and received an order for a certain kind and quantity of whisky, less than five gallons, at an agreed price, which order he sent to W. to be filled; that W., or his agents, filled the order by taking whisky, of the kind and in the quantity called for, from his general stock, in the parish of Ouachita, and delivering it to a public carrier, consigned to the person by whom the order was given, who received it in the parish of Winn, paid the freight, and some time later, when called on, paid the price to S., still acting as the agent of W. It is left to the court to decide whether or not, as a proposition of law, the facts thus submitted constitute the crime of retailing spirituous liquors in the parish of Winn, . or whether the parish of Ouachita- is to be considered, under the law, as the place of the sale.</p> <p>2. What the defendant S., as the .agent of W., was authorized to do, is a question of fact, upon which the finding of the trial court is conclusive, since in criminal cases the jurisdiction of this court is confined to questions of law. And what the defendant did. is also a question of fact. But whether that which he did amounted to the selling of liquor in the-parish of Winn, as the case is presented, and in the absence of proof or finding as to the intention of the parties, is a question of law, since it is the law which determines what constitutes a contract, by what rules such contract is to be interpreted, and what name shall be</p> <p>given to it.</p> <p>3. In receiving the order for a certain quantity of whisky, of a kind and at a price agreed on, to be supplied from a general stock, but without identification of the particula