EX PARTE GEORGE AYERS
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The Florida Supreme Court discharged George Ayers from custody, holding that his conviction for unlawful possession of intoxicating liquors was void because the charge lacked an allegation of intent to sell, which was a necessary element of the offense under the relevant statute.
No, the conviction was void and a nullity. The court held that the absence of an allegation of intent to sell rendered the charge a nullity, as it did not constitute an offense known to the law.
“In the total absence from the charge upon which the relator was tried and convicted of any allegation to the effect that he had the alleged liquors in his possession for the purpose and with the intention of unlawfully selling them, he has been charged with, tried, convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for no sort of offence known to our law, all of which is void and a nullity”
This quote explains the core reasoning for discharging the relator, highlighting the missing element of intent to sell.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceGeorge Ayers was convicted in the County Judge's Court of Madison County for violating a law prohibiting the unlawful possession of intoxicating liquo…
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Taylor, J.
This is a case of original jurisdiction in this court. The relator, George Ayers, was tried and convicted in the County Judge’s Court of Madison County, upon an affidavit charging him with a violation of the provisions of Chapter 7284, Laws approved May 1st, 1917, viz: “That he did have an unlawful quantity of intoxicating liquors in his possession in Madison County, which said County had voted against the sale of said liquors.”
He was sentenced to pay a fine or be imprisoned in the county jail, and being restrained of his liberty sued out a writ of Habeas Corpus from this court. In the total absence from the charge upon which the relator was tried and convicted of any allegation to the effect that he had the alleged liquors in his possession for the purpose and with the intention of unlawfully selling them, he has been charged with, tried, convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for no sort of offence known to our law, all of which is void and a nullity, and it is therefore, con sidered, ordered and adjudged that the relator, George Ayers, be and he is hereby ordered to be discharged from further custody under said judgment of conviction, at the cost of Madison County.
Ex Parte James Francis decided at the present term.
Browne, C. J., and Ellis, J., concur. Whitfield and West, J. J., dissent.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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State v. Powell, 118 Fla. 296 (Fla. 1935)…that the Constitution did not limit the power of the Legislature to regulate the transportation and possession of intoxicating liquor in dry counties. The case of Ex Parte MeClellan, 76 Fla. 348, 79 South. Rep. 762, and the case of Ex Parte Ayres, 76 Fla. 350, 79 South. Rep. 763, followed the law as announced in the case of Ex Parte Francis, supra. Chapter 7733, Laws' of Florida, 1918, above referred to in this opinion, was enacted in December, 1918, and by its terms became effective before the constitu…