Court Opinion

ID: 9547759
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 17:51:37.583009+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:18:03.072000
License: Public Domain

CARTER, J.
I dissent.
Broadly speaking this case brings into sharp focus the clash between conflicting social philosophies which are reflected in the interpretation of constitutional and statutory provisions. That is, should the burden be placed upon an innocent and blameless employer, engaged in a business not in itself harmful to the public, of risking conviction of a crime and service of a jail sentence because of the mistake, intentional or not, of his employee? The majority opinion answers this question in the affirmative. With this conclusion I cannot agree. In my opinion there are no considerations of public policy or general welfare which warrant such a departure from the long established rule that criminal intent is a necessary element of a crime. Various situations can be imagined which render intolerable, and shocking to one’s sense of justice, the construction placed by the majority opinion on the statute here involved. Similar statutes could be passed relating to the sale of railroad tickets or the cashing of checks which would make criminally liable the officers of a railway or banking corporation for an error made by an employee in overcharging a customer for a ticket or short changing a customer in the cashing of a check. Upon the occurrence of such an event in a remote section of the state where the railroad or bank was *532operating, the president and other officers of the railroad or bank who might reside in a metropolitan area hundreds of miles from the place where the crime was committed could be arrested and sent to' jail for an alleged violation committed by a ticket clerk or bank teller. Likewise a merchant, who had been inducted into military service and who left his business in charge of a manager, could be sent to jail for violation of such a statute committed during his absence in military service when he had no knowledge whatever of what was taking place in his place of business. In such a case there is nothing an employer can do to protect himself, as the act of the employee is one which depends entirely upon use of his own faculties and senses and it is impossible for the employer to determine with any degree of accuracy whether the faculties and senses of the employee are functioning properly and accurately during all his working hours. These considerations, in my opinion, outweigh any benefit or advantage which may be gained to the public by an interpretation of a statute which places upon an innocent and blameless employer criminal responsibility for an act of his employee. |
The specific issue here involved is the eorre*ct construction of section 12023 of the Business and Professions Code quoted in the majority opinion. Should it be construed to mean (1) that the master or principal (petitioner here) is criminally liable thereunder even though he is wholly innocent of fault or blame—did not authorize, assent to, direct or acquiesce in the act of his employee, or (2) that he shall not be denounced a criminal unless he authorized, assented to, directed or acquiesced in the unlawful act of his employee ?
It is clear that the section is reasonably susceptible of the second construction; it certainly is at least equally amenable to either the first or the second interpretation. The statute condemns unlawful action of a principal by his agent. In other words, the unlawful action of the agent must be authorized specifically not generally under the broad authority to sell his principal’s merchandise. It will be remembered that the statute condemns the unlawful act by oneself or by agent. “By oneself” means “alone” “unaided.” (Webster’s New Int. Diet., p. 367.) That expression followed by “or by an agent” must indicate that in the latter case the principal is acting not alone. He has procured and had the aid of his employee. They are acting together—in concert. He is still the one who must commit the unlawful act before he is guilty *533but he has assistance, that is, he instructs his agents to physically commit the act denounced. But even if the scales hang equally the second construction is compelled by numerous factors.
In a comprehensive discussion of the law with respect to criminal liability without fault Professor Francies Bowes Sayre, in suggesting tests for the construction of statutes purporting to impose such liability, says: “How then can one determine practically which offenses do and which do not require mens rea, where the statute creating the offense is entirely silent as to requisite knowledge ? Although no hard and fast lines can be drawn, two cardinal principles stand out upon which the determination must turn.
“The first relates to the character of the offense. All criminal enactments in a sense serve the double purpose of singling out wrongdoers for the purpose of punishment or correction and of regulating the social order. But often the importance of the one far outweighs the other. Crimes created primarily for the purpose of singling out individual wrongdoers for punishment or correction are the ones commonly requiring mens rea; police offenses of a merely regulatory nature are frequently enforceable irrespective of any guilty intent.
“The second criterion depends upon the possible penalty. If this be serious, particularly if the offense be punishable by imprisonment, the individual interest of the defendant weighs too heavily to allow conviction without proof of a guilty mind. To subject defendants entirely free from moral blameworthiness to the possibility of prison sentences is revolting to the community sense of justice; and no law which violates this fundamental instinct can long endure. Crimes punishable with prison sentences, therefore, ordinarily require proof of a guilty intent.” (33 Col.L.Rev. 55, 72.) In the instant case a violation of the statute is a misdemeanor. (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 12023, supra.) And a misdeméanor is punishable by a fine not exceeding $500 or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by both (Pen. Code, § 19).
This court has recently given consideration to a similar problem in the cases involving a statute declaring the forfeiture of a motor vehicle “used to transport any narcotics.” (Health & Saf. Code, § 11610.) In People v. One 1941 Ford 8 Stake Truck, 26 Cal.2d 503 [159 P.2d 641], this court speaking of the use of the car to carry narcotics without the owner’s *534consent states (at p. 506) : “It is true that the Health and Safety Code does not expressly exempt from confiscation an automobile taken in the first instance without the owner’s consent and used to transport narcotics but it has been construed as not authorizing forfeiture under such circumstances. The reasoning leading to this conclusion is that a contrary determination would amount to an unconstitutional deprivation of property without due process of law (People v. One 1937 Plymouth 6, supra [37 Cal.App.2d 65 (98 P.2d 750)]), and where a statute is susceptible of two interpretations, one of which would satisfy constitutional guarantees, if possible the courts will uphold the legislation. (Bodinson Mfg. Co, v. California Emp. Com., 17 Cal.2d 321, 326-327 [109 P.2d 935].) ” [Emphasis added.] People v. One 1941 Buick Sport Coupe, 28 Cal.2d 692 [171 P.2d 719], concerned the possession, unknown to the car owner, of narcotics in the vehicle by a guest of the owner - and operator of the car. The trial court’s judgment of forfeiture was reversed. (See, also, People v. Gory, 28 Cal.2d 450 [170 P.2d 433].)
There are cases involving various statutes where the innocent employer is held criminally liable for the acts of his employee. (See 43 L.R.A.N.S. 11; 33 Col.L.Rev. 55, 84.) Where an employee sells liquor to a minor he is making the very decision that he has been employed to make, that is, deciding when he should sell and whether a particular customer is a minor. The employer in effect confers upon him the authority to violate or not violate the law in selling the liquor. But it is not to be supposed that the employer would authorize the employee to give short of the correct weight in the sale of merchandise. In the pure and adulterated food oases the employer has possession and control of the merchandise and is not asked to warrant at his peril the integrity of an employee.
Habeas corpus'is the appropriate remedy in the instant case. In discussing the availability of habeas corpus to test the constitutionality of a statute this Court has said: “ ‘It must never be forgotten that the writ of habeas corpus is the precious safeguard of personal liberty and there is no higher duty than to maintain it unimpaired . . . the rule is not so inflexible that it may not yield to exceptional circumstances where the need for the remedy afforded by the writ of habeas corpus is apparent. ’ . . . There are other situations in which *535habeas corpus is used, not as a test of jurisdiction, hut to review a question of law that cannot otherwise he raised or is so important as to render the ordinary procedure inadequate. Thus, it lies to test whether there is probable cause to justify the committing magistrate in holding petitioner for trial. . . . It also lies to test whether the complaint charges a public offense . . . even though this question falls within the jurisdiction of the trial court and may be raised on appeal.” (In re Bell, 19 Cal.2d 488, 493 [122 P.2d 22].) Where a person is imprisoned by virtue of an erroneous construction of a criminal statute or for acts not constituting a crime, he should be released on habeas corpus. (See In re Corryell, 22 Cal. 178; Ex parte Kearny, 55 Cal. 212; 39 C.J.S., Habeas Corpus, § 17.) This does not mean that every error at law is a basis for the writ. However the correct interpretation of the criminal statutes is, like the issue of constitutionality, of great public importance in view of its widespread significance and its bearing upon not only the case under consideration but other cases.
In my opinion the petitioner should be discharged from custody.