Romero

Sixty years ago “Mrs. Floyd Magoni” was convicted of two sales of jackass brandy. She was sentenced to serve jail time and fined $2,000. She appealed, claiming the fine to be excessive. The trial court gave no reason for the fine which was the maximum amount allowed by law. (People v. Magoni (1925) 73 Cal.App. 78 .) The appellate court affirmed, concluding the fine imposed in the superior court was not disproportionate to the offense, was not shocking to public sentiment and in the judgment of reasonable people, would be right and proper under the circumstances. This conclusion was based on a bit of evidence which the court summarized: “A witness for the prosecution testified: ‘Accompanied by Haacke we visited defendant’s residence and had several drinks of jackass brandy served by the defendant and for which Haacke paid fifty cents per drink. Mr. Haacke asked the defendant for a pint bottle of jackass. Defendant stated that she had to be awful careful. Afterwards Mrs. Magoni brought in a pint bottle for which Haacke paid three dollars. A pint bottle of jackass, for which Haacke paid three dollars. ... He proceeded to put it in his bib overalls, when Mrs. Magoni said,…