In Re Mefferd

In a criminal action commenced by the filing of a complaint in the municipal court of the city of Los Angeles the petitioners, George Mefferd and Joseph Waldman, were convicted of violating certain provisions of the Fruit, Nut and Vegetable Standardization Act. (Stats. 1927, p. 1845.) Contending that the act is unconstitutional and void, the petitioners appealed to the appellate division of the superior court from the judgment of conviction. The judgment was affirmed and the petitioners applied to the District Court of Appeal (Second Appellate District, Division Two) for a writ of habeas corpus, which was granted. In a written opinion that court declared the act to be unconstitutional and discharged the petitioners from custody. The attorney-general thereupon made application to this court for a hearing, which was allowed. On May 1, 1931, this court filed its opinion declaring the Fruit, Nut and Vegetable Standardization Act to be a proper and valid exercise of the police power, and the petitioners were remanded to the custody of the sheriff of the county of Los Angeles. [6] On a petition for rehearing the petitioners urged, for the first time, that the Supreme Court was without…

In the municipal court of the city of Los Angeles petitioners were jointly charged and convicted under count one of complaint No. 11775 of unlawfully labeling grapefruit in violation of section 9 of the California Fruit, Nut and Vegetable Standardization Act, as amended in 1929 (Stats. 1929, p. 104); under count two, of unlawfully selling and offering for sale grapefruit containers, subcontainers and wrappers upon which were alleged false statements in violation of section 10 of the same act, as amended in 1929 (Stats. 1929, p. 105); under count three, of labeling for sale and offering for sale deceptive pack of fresh grapefruit by mislabeling said grapefruit "Imperial" as "Imperial Valley Grapefruit" and under another complaint of unlawfully picking, causing to be picked, sold and offered to be sold and/or transported grapefruit the juice of which said grapefruit did not at the time same was sold and offered for sale contain soluble solids equal to or in excess of five and one-half parts to every part of acid contained in said juice, the said grapefruit not having remained on the trees after June 1st of the season in which it was picked, in violation of section 20 of the…