United States v. Safeway Stores, Inc., a Corporation

The indictment here is one brought under Title 21 U.S.C.A. Section 78 , charging the defendant, in two counts, with unlawful transportation of a quantity of meat food products of cattle and swine from a warehouse in Los Angeles, California, to the Safeway store in Las Vegas, Nevada, which products had not been inspected, examined and marked “Inspected and passed” as required by law.

Section 78, Title 21, provides:

Safeway Stores moved to dismiss on two basic grounds: (1) that the indictment did not state facts sufficient to constitute an offense against the United States in that “it affirmatively appears on its face that defendant comes within the exception to the statute upon which the alleged offense is based, exempting retail dealers in meat and meat products supplying their customers”; and (2) that the indictment does not sufficiently inform the defendant of the nature and cause of the accusation in that “It fails to specifically allege that defendant does not come within the statutory exception exempting retail dealers in meat and meat products supplying their customers”, and “It does not appear thereon whether Safeway Stores, Inc., is being charged as a retail dealer in…