B. M. BALBONTIN, PETITIONER,
v.
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, RESPONDENT

Fla. | 1914-10-20
Shackleford, C. J., and Taylor and Hocker, J. J., concur., Cockrell, J., absent by reason of illness in his family.
68 Fla. 84 Florida Supreme Court (1914) Caution
Cited by 26 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

B. M. Balbontin was convicted of unlawfully obstructing the interior view of his liquor establishment with screens and blinds. The Florida Supreme Court quashed the conviction, holding that when a proprietor properly licenses both a restaurant and liquor saloon in the same room and complies with state law, using screens or blinds does not constitute a criminal offense.


Holding

A proprietor conducting a restaurant and liquor saloon in the same room with proper licensing for both (one retail liquor license and one restaurant license for the combined space) may lawfully use screens, blinds, curtains, and similar coverings without committing a misdemeanor, provided there is no attempt to evade liquor regulations.


Key Quotes

“Provided, That this section (5) shall not apply to restaurants serving intoxicants at meals where the restaurant and saloon are run and operated in the same room, provided such restaurants have paid the regular liquor license tax provided under State license law.”

The statutory proviso that exempts combined restaurant-saloon operations from the prohibition on screens and blinds when properly licensed.

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Balbontin operated a restaurant and retail liquor saloon in the same storeroom during the 1913-14 license year. He obtained both a regular retail liqu…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.

Opinion of the Court
Whitfield, J.

Whitfield, J.

During the license year 1913-14, the petitioner in a certain “storeroom” conducted “a restaurant, having tables, chairs and regular service, where patrons are served with meals and intoxicating liquors with their meals, if so desired, and in the same storeroom conducted a retail liquor saloon.” The petitioner duly obtained and held a regular license as a retail liquor dealer and also “a license to conduct a restaurant with the privilege of serving intoxicating liquors, in the same storeroom in which said retail liquor saloon is conducted,” paying for the latter license $25.00' to the State and $12.50 to the County. The petitioner was convicted and sentenced to pay a fine upon an information filed in the Criminal Court of Record of Hillsborough County, charging that ' the petitioner, a dealer in intoxicating liquors, wines and beer, did “unlawfully allow doors, blinds, curtains, shades, screens and ’frails to prevent persons' on the outside of his place of business from seeing inside thereof,” and “did unlawfully set up and use in such place of business blinds and screens.” This judgment of conviction and sentence being for a misdemeanor, was affirmed on writ of error by the Circuit Court, the judgment of affirmance stating that the use of screens,' etc., in the one room as stated; constitutes the criminal offense when the defendant had not procured an additional liquor license for the restaurant. This judgment and the reasons for rendering it, being a part of the record of the cause, and no appellate proceeding being provided by law, a writ of certiorari was issued by this court on application duly - made, .to . determine whether such judgment is according to the essential requirements of law. Malone v. City of Quincy, 66 Fla. 52, 62 South. Rep. 922.

Section 41 of Chapter 6421, Acts of 1913, provides that the owners or managers of restaurants “When connected with a barroom or place where intoxicating liquors are sold, or where intoxicating liquors are allowed to be served,-shall pay to the State a license tax of twenty-five ($25.00) dollars.”

Sections 5 and 7 of Chapter 6516, Acts of 1913, make it a misdemeanor to allow doors, blinds, curtains, shades, screens or other things to prevent persons on the outside of a liquor saloon from seeing inside thereof, “Provided, That this section (5) shall not apply to restaurants serving intoxicants at meals where the restaurant and saloon are run and operated in the same room, provided such restaurants have paid the regular liquor license tax provided under State license law.” The statute does not make it a misdemeanor to use or allow doors or screens, etc., in a single room where a restaurant and a liquor saloon are “run and operated in the same room” by the same proprietor, when such proprietor has duly procured and holds one license for such place as a retail liquor dealer and also a proper license for the same room as a restaurant keeper in connection with a barroom. The law does not contemplate that in such a case two liquor licenses shall be obtained and held when the business of a liquor saloon and a restaurant are conducted in the same room by the same proprietor, and there is no attempt to evade the law regulating such subjects. This being so, the judgment imposing the fine on the petitioner is not according to the essential requirement of law, and is unauthorized.

The judgment of the Circuit Court affirming the unauthorized judgment of the Criminal Court of Record of Hillsborough County is quashed.

Shackleford, C. J., and Taylor and Hocker, J. J., concur. Cockrell, J., absent by reason of illness in his family.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By (13 total)

  • Haile v. Gardner, 82 Fla. 355 (Fla. 1921)
    …. 22, 77 South. Rep. 663), or other mere matters of procedure, except perhaps in cases of flagrant violations of law resulting in serious injury or injustice, or where jurisdictional or other fundamental matters are violated. See Balbontin v. State, 68 Fla. 84, 66 South. Rep. 421; State v. Live Oak, P. & G. R. Co., 70 Fla. 564, 70 South. Rep. 550; or perhaps in cases where there was no evidence as to elements of the offense that are essential to a lawful conviction and imprisonment. If the plaintiff in e…
  • First Nat'l Bank of Gainesville v. Gibbs, 78 Fla. 118 (Fla. 1919)
    …Boy, 34 Fla. 389, 16 South. Rep. 290; Mernaugh v. City of Orlando, 41 Fla. 433, 27 South. Rep. 34; Seaboard Air Line R. Co. v. Ray, 52 Fla. 634, 42 South. Rep. 714; Malone v. City of Quincy, 66 Fla. 52, 62 South. Rep. 922; Balbontin [*124] v. State, 68 Fla. 84, 66 South. Rep. 421; State v. Live Oak, P. & G. R. Co., supra. See also Louisville & N. R. Co. v. Sutton, 54 Fla. 247, 44 South. Rep. 946. Applications for the writ have been denied or writs issued were quashed in cases where final judgments to whi…
  • Am. Ry. Express Co. v. Weatherford, 86 Fla. 626 (Fla. 1924)
    …v. Wright, 79 Fla. 600, 84 South. Rep. 604; Holmberg v. Toomer, 78 Fla. 116, 82 South. Rep. 620; First Nat. Bank of Gainesville v. Gibbs, [*633] 78 Fla. 118, 82 South. Rep. 618; Harrison v. Frink, 75 Fla. 22, 77 South. Rep. 663; Balbontin v. State, 68 Fla. 84. The Federal Constitution provides that in all cases, under the Federal law (except those affecting■ Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, wherein the Federal Supreme Court has original jurisd…

Previewing 3 of 13 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw