Court Opinion

ID: 9678003
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 06:08:34.009128+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:01.129671
License: Public Domain

DORSEY, Justice,
concurring.
I concur in the affirmance of the conviction; however I disagree with the analysis expressed. In my opinion the legislature denominated the crime to be the intentional selling a “counterfeit mark” or an item bearing a “counterfeit mark,” without requiring knowledge on the part of the seller that the item was indeed counterfeit. It is enough that the item bear or be identified by a counterfeit mark. What the seller knew or should have known of its counterfeit status is not necessary for a violation if the State so chooses to prosecute under *811subsection (1) of § 32.23 of the Penal Code. Of course the State could prosecute under subsection (2) that requires evidence that the seller knew or should have known that the item bears or is identified by a counterfeit mark.
The trial judge denied the proposed instruction that would have required knowledge that the goods were counterfeit, or that the defendant should have known they were. Thus the necessity of the knowledge of the defendant as an element of the offense was squarely presented to the court below and to this court. I think by the clear language of the statute the legislature did not require such knowledge by the seller in order for his actions to constitute a crime.
There are good reasons for the legislature to put the risk of prosecution on the seller of this type of goods. It requires care on the part of the seller to make sure what he offers for sale is genuine, for if it is not real, the seller is in peril of prosecution. Such a danger should encourage sellers to be very cautious in what they offer for sale, with the result that items of doubtful provenance will be driven from the market by the actions of conscientious and worried vendors.
Given the legislature’s decision that one who offers a counterfeit trinket for sale has committed a crime regardless of whether the seller knows the item is fake, is there some limitation on the legislature’s authority that would prohibit such action? I find none. I believe it to be a valid exercise of the police power of the State.