United States v. Tri-State Motor Transit Co., Inc.

Tri-State Motor Transit Company appeals a judgment of a fine and probation for unlawfully parking a truck and trailer loaded with explosives within 300 feet of a building “where people work, congregate, or assemble * * *

The record shows that Tri-State’s driver parked the loaded truck and trailer about 100 feet from a busy motel and restaurant in Baker, Oregon, and left it substantially unattended for some 15 hours. The driver’s excuse was that snow had made driving more hazardous than parking, and that he thought he had parked the truck in as safe a place as was reasonable and practicable under all the circumstances. There was evidence before the jury to the effect that equally safe parking spaces were available more than 300 feet from occupied buildings, and a guilty verdict was returned.

The principal assignment of error involves the instructions. The judge read to the jury the substance of the quoted regulation, including the exception, but did not again in the instructions call specific attention to the exception. No such specific instruction had been requested by either party.

Tri-State now contends that the judge, sua sponte, should have explained to the jury how, if the…