United States v. Van Wert

Citations

• 195 F. 974
• 1912 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1696

Syllabus

<p>1. Bribery (§ 1*)—Statutory Qpeense—“Ueeioer of the United States”— “United States Officer.”</p> <p>Under Const, art. 2, § 2, providing for tlie appointment of officers of tlie United States, an “officer of tlie United States,” within Pen. Code, § 117 (Act March 4, 1909, c. 321, 35 Stat. 1109 [U. S. Comp. St. Supp. 1911, p. 1623]), punishing the' acceptance of bribes by any officer of the United States, is one who is either appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, or by the President alone, the courts of law, or heads of some executive department of the government, and a special officer appointed by the' Commissioner of Indian Affairs for the suppression of the liquor traffic among the Indians, is not an “officer of the United States.”</p> <p>[Ed. Note.—For other eases, see Bribery, Cent. Dig. §§ 1-3; Dec. Dig. § 1*</p> <p>For other definitions, see Words and Phrases, vol. 8, p. 7184.]</p> <p>2. Statutes (§ 241*)—Penal Statutes—Construction.</p> <p>Pen. Code, § 117 '(Act March 4, 1909, c. 321, 35 Stat. 1109 [U. S. Comp. St. Supp. .1911, p. 1623]), punishing any officer of the United States accepting a bribe to influence official action, is highly penal and must be construed at least with reasonable strictness, and unless the act charged to have been done by accused is a violation of some act of Congress or some departmental rule or regulation authorized by Congress, the violation of which is declared by it to be an offense, no crime has been committed.</p> <p>[Ed. Note.—For other cases, see Statutes, Cent. Dig. §§ 322, 323; Dec. Dig. § 241.*]</p> <p>3. Indictment and Information (§ 110*)—Statutory Offense—Requisites.</p> <p>It is not sufficient to charge an offense in the words of a statute creating the offense, unless they of themselves directly and with the requisita certainty set forth every essential fact necessary to constitute an offense.</p> <p>[Ed. Note.—For other cases, see Indictment and Information, Cent. Dig. §§ 289