Court Opinion

ID: 9683580
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 13:32:02.948753+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:48.897967
License: Public Domain

On motion for rehearing:

*511cThe following opinion was filed November 12, 1964.
Per Curiam
(on motion for rehearing). Subsequent to our original opinion herein defendant Browne moved for rehearing and different counsel were appointed by this court to represent him with respect to such motion. We consider seriatim the issues raised in the brief filed in support of this motion for rehearing:

Is Paregoric a Narcotic Drug?

For the first time in this criminal prosecution the claim is advanced that paregoric is not a narcotic drug within the meaning of sec. 161.02 (3), Stats., under which defendant was convicted. This statute provides in part: “No person shall take or use narcotic drugs habitually or excessively or except in pursuance to a prescription for permitted use as prescribed in this chapter.” Sec. 161.01 (14) defines narcotic drugs, as used in ch. 161, Stats., so as to include any compound containing opium. A licensed pharmacist testified that the component parts of paregoric are opium, alcohol, benzoic acid, and oil of anise.
Sec. 161.06 (1) (a) and (b), Stats., authorizes an apothecary to dispense narcotic drugs upon prescription under certain restrictions. Sub. (c) of sec. 161.06 (1) then provides, “The provisions of this subsection shall apply to paregoric.” Defendant bases his contention that paregoric is not a narcotic drug within the meaning of sec. 161.02 (3), upon this latter specific mention of paregoric in the subsection relating to apothecaries filling prescriptions for narcotic drugs, and argues that the canon of statutory construction, expressio unius est exclusio alterius, applies.
We reject this contention of defendant since we are satisfied that the specific provision of sec. 161.06 (1) (c). Stats., *511dwas inserted by the legislature for purposes of emphasis because paregoric is frequently among the exempt narcotic preparations listed in the statutes of other states and in the Harrison Narcotics Act. It serves as an express warning to pharmacists that they may only dispense paregoric pursuant to prescription. The definition which controls is that of sec. 161.01 (14), and that clearly includes paregoric.

Instruction With Respect to Hypodermic Needle.

Also for the first time on this rehearing defendant complains of the following instruction included in the trial court’s charge to the jury:
“Under the law applicable to this case, the conscious'possession of a hypodermic syringe or needle is prima facie evidence of the unlawful use of narcotic drugs.”
This instruction is predicated upon the second sentence of sec. 161.02 (3), Stats., which reads, “The unlawful possession of narcotic drugs by a person or of a hypodermic syringe or needle, except when possessed by a diabetic, shall be prima facie evidence of the unlawful use of such drugs.” Since statutes, if possible, must be given a reasonable meaning and not one which accomplishes an absurd result, we hold the word “unlawful” does not qualify the possession of a hypodermic syringe or needle. The only unlawful possession of such an instrument would be one obtained by theft, and clearly the legislature was not here concerned with stolen property.
Defendant attacks this statutory provision as being invalid on the ground that all statutory presumptions in criminal prosecutions have been held unconstitutional in Tot v. United States (1943), 319 U. S. 463, 63 Sup. Ct. 1241, 87 L. Ed. 1519, and Barrett v. United States (5th Cir. 1963), 322 *511eFed. (2d) 292. The state counters with the argument that only those statutory presumptions are invalid where there is no rational connection between the fact proved and the ultimate fact presumed. Here there clearly is a rational connection between possession of a hypodermic syringe or needle by a nondiabetic and the unlawful use of narcotic drugs.
We find it unnecessary to pass on the constitutionality of this statutory provision. Even if it were error for the trial court to have given the instruction predicated upon the statute, we determine it to have been nonprejudicial. The un-contradicted testimony that there were recent hypodermic needle marks on defendant’s arms; his admissions that he was taking paregoric; and the manner in which he admitted he prepared it for injection by use of heat so as to burn off the alcohol and secure a higher concentration of opium; render it highly unlikely that this instruction had any material bearing on the jury finding defendant guilty.
Another reason for our determination not to reverse because of the giving of the quoted instruction is that no motion for new trial was made in this case. Error cannot be predicated upon an instruction to the jury without first moving for a new trial on this ground in the trial court. Ferry v. State (1954), 266 Wis. 508, 510, 63 N. W. (2d) 741; State v. Biller (1952), 262 Wis. 472, 482, 55 N. W. (2d) 414.

Refusal of Trial Court to Permit Defendant to Waive Counsel.

Defendant again raises the issue that the trial court denied him the constitutional right to try his own case without counsel. This issue was exhaustively argued by the parties and thoroughly considered by our court at the time we rendered our original opinion. Our reasons for rejecting this contention were fully set forth therein, and we deem it unnecessary to add to what was there stated.

*511f
Defendant’s Admissions Before Trial.

In addition to the arguments originally advanced before this court in support of the contention that defendant’s admissions before trial to police officers should have been excluded, defendant now relies upon Escobedo v. Illinois (1964), 378 U. S. 478, 84 Sup. Ct. 1758, 12 L. Ed. (2d) 977. It is contended that this case requires that any such admission be excluded from evidence in the absence of (1) either representation by counsel before making such admissions or the intelligent waiver of counsel; and (2) the police officers informing defendant of his constitutional right to remain silent and not say anything in response to questions. A careful reading of Escobedo convinces us that it does not lay down any such sweeping strictures. At the beginning of the Escobedo majority opinion, Mr. Justice Goldberg stated the issue to be decided (378 U. S., at p. 479) :
“The critical question in this case is whether, under the circumstances, the refusal by the police to honor petitioner’s request to consult with his lawyer during the course of an interrogation constitutes a denial of ‘the Assistance of Counsel’ in violation of the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution as ‘made obligatory upon the States by the Fourteenth Amendment,’ Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U. S. 335, 342, and thereby renders inadmissible in a state criminal trial any incriminating statement elicited by the police during the interrogation.” (Emphasis supplied.)
The pertinent circumstances in that case were that during the interrogation after Escobedo’s arrest he repeatedly asked to speak to his lawyer and such request was denied; his lawyer came to the police station and asked the officer in charge for permission to see Escobedo; this also was denied; and the police never advised Escobedo of his constitutional right to remain silent. The only similarity between those facts and *511gthe facts present here is that defendant Browne was not advised of his constitutional right to remain silent. He made no request to consult with an attorney nor did any attorney seek to confer with him. We deem that this fully distinguishes Escobedo and that it does not control the result here.
With respect to the failure to advise defendant of his constitutional right to remain silent, Holt v. State (1962), 17 Wis. (2d) 468, 479, 117 N. W. (2d) 626, held that there is no hard-and-fast rule that an accused must be informed of his constitutional right not to incriminate himself as a condition precedent to admission into evidence of any admissions or confessions made to the police. The most that Escobedo holds in this respect is that the failure to so inform a criminal suspect under arrest, when coupled with other circumstances, may be sufficient to require exclusion of any admission made by him. We find here a total lack of any other circumstances which require' exclusion of the instant admissions.

New Trial in the Interest of Justice.

As a final argument defendant requests that we order a new trial in the interest of justice. We are not convinced that the conviction of defendant probably resulted in a miscarriage of justice. We decline, therefore, to order a new trial on that ground.
The motion for rehearing is denied without costs.