People v. Ah Him

The defendants were convicted of using Chinese shrimp or bag nets for the purpose of catching fish in the waters of the state of California, in violation of section 636 of the Penal Code. They have appealed to this court from the several judgments and orders denying their motions for new trials.

The principal point urged for a reversal is that the evidence is insufficient to support the verdict in this, that it shows that they were fishing for shrimp and not for fish.

They were certainly using Chinese shrimp or bag nets, and the evidence clearly shows that upon the day upon which the charge is laid they in fact caught in their bag nets both shrimps and fish. In fact the evidence shows that they caught and kept more fish than shrimps. The fish were all food fish of different varieties, and for the greater part very small. The fish as well as the shrimps (about four tons) were taken from their nets, placed in their boat, and were being taken by defendants to the shore when they were overhauled by the officers. One of the officers on the day in question visited the camp of defendants at Hunter’s Point and found there freshly caught fish as well as shrimps in process of drying. From…