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35 P.R. 675

People v. Yera

Supreme Court of Puerto Rico

Decided July 13, 1926

Supreme Court of Puerto Rico · decided 1926-07-13

Decided 1926-07-13

Mh. Justice Hutchison

¶1delivered tlie opinion- of the court.

¶2Appellant was charged with the illegal possession, of liquor for the purpose of sale. The complaint also charged a previous conviction for the same offense.

¶3The district court on appeal from the municipal court after a trial de novo found defendant to he guilty of a violation of the National Prohibition Act and imposed a fine of $200 with an alternative provision for imprisonment not to exceed ninety days.

¶4The assignment is that — ■

“The court erred in overruling defendant’s motion for a nonsuit.
“The court erred in finding the defendant guilty and in deeming the evidence sufficient to prove the two grounds of the complaint, to wit:
“(a) That the defendant had liquor in his possession for sale.
“(b) That the defendant had been previously convicted of the same offense as a justification of punishment for a second cpnviction.”

¶5The police found a bottle of rum in a barrel in a back room of a cafetín belonging to defendant. There were also empty bottles which smelled of rum.

¶6One of the policemen says that there were glasses.

¶7*676The defendant stated to the police that the rum was intended for his personal use. He did not live in the tienda, nor was it annexed to his dwelling.

¶8The fact of possession was not disputed and the surrounding circumstances were sufficient to establish a prima facie case of possession for the purpose of sale.

¶9The explanation offered by defendant at the time of the visitation might have been regarded as satisfactory enough if accepted as true by the court, but the trial judge was not obliged to believe the statement made to the police and there is nothing in the record to indicate that he did believe it.

¶10The only evidence of a previous conviction for the same offense was the testimony of the secretary of the municipal court to the effect that the record of the municipal court showed a judgment imposing a fine of five dollars or in the alternative imprisonment for thirty days 'for a “violation of the National Prohibition Act.”

¶11We quite agree with appellant that the judgment referred to, without, more, does not establish a previous conviction for the same offense. People v. Campos, 17 P.R.R. 1144, 1147; Massey v. U. S., 281 Fed. 293; Hazelton v. U. S., 293 Fed. 384; Schooley v. U. S., 4 Fed. (2nd) 767.

¶12The judgment appealed from will be modified in accordance with the uniform practice of this court, as indicated in People v. Bermúdez, ante, p. 546, and cases cited, reducing the fine to $50, and, as modified, affirmed.

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