Commonwealth v. Patterson
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Complaint to the Third District Court of Eastern Middlesex, for keeping and maintaining a common nuisance, to wit, a certain tenement in Cambridge, used for the illegal sale and illegal keeping of intoxicating liquors, on January 1,1884, and on divers other days and times between that day and May 8, 1884. Trial in the Superior Court, before Bacon, J., who allowed a bill of exceptions, in substance as follows : The government introduced evidence tending to show that, on April…
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Complaint to the Third District Court of Eastern Middlesex, for keeping and maintaining a common nuisance, to wit, a certain tenement in Cambridge, used for the illegal sale and illegal keeping of intoxicating liquors, on January 1,1884, and on divers other days and times between that day and May 8, 1884. Trial in the Superior Court, before Bacon, J., who allowed a bill of exceptions, in substance as follows : The government introduced evidence tending to show that, on April 23, 1884, the defendant was the proprietor of a saloon in Cambridge, and sold in his saloon, where he held a license of…
1Opinion of the CourtHolmes, J.
The jury were instructed that, if the defendant was proprietor of the saloon, and made either of the two illegal sales that were testified to, they must return a verdict of guilty. This went too far. For, even if a single sale was sufficient evidence to warrant a conviction on this complaint, it certainly did not of itself constitute the offence set forth, or amount to more *500than evidence for the jury on which they might convict. A building cannot be said to be “ used ” for the illegal sale of intoxicating liquors, within the meaning of the Pub. Sts. c. 101, § 6, which makes it a nuisance, nor…
2Cited by29 opinions
- Tenement House Department v. . McDevittNew York Court of Appeals · 1915
- Hamilton Manufacturing Co. v. City of LowellMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1931
- State v. ChisnellWest Virginia Supreme Court · 1892
- Lincoln v. City of BostonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1889
- United States v. DowlingDistrict Court, S.D. Florida · 1922
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