Opinion
41009.
DECIDED NOVEMBER 25, 1964.
Condemnation of motor vehicle. Metter City Court. Before Judge Kimbrough.
Dan L. Lanier, for plaintiff in error.
L. C. Anderson, Solicitor, contra.
A vehicle may be condemned under Code Ann. § 58-207 only when it is used "in conveying, removing, concealing or storing" nontax-paid liquors.
DECIDED NOVEMBER 25, 1964.
This was a proceeding to condemn a pickup truck under Code Ann. § 58-207, which provides, inter alia, that "All apparatus or appliances which shall be used for the purpose of distilling or manufacturing any . . . liquors or beverages are hereby declared to be contraband. . . All vehicles and conveyances of every kind and description . . . which are used in conveying, removing, concealing or storing, any liquors or beverages the transportation, possession or storing of which is in violation of the laws of the State, shall be seized and condemned by any sheriff," and setting out the procedure. The vehicle was alleged to have been used "in hauling and carrying sugar, gas burners, and cylinders, condensers, and other materials and equipment for use in the manufacturing of moonshine liquor in Candler County, Georgia."
Plaintiff intervenor demurred generally to the condemnation. His demurrer was overruled and he excepts.
The pickup truck involved was not alleged to have been used "in conveying, removing, concealing or storing" of nontax-paid liquor, hence the portion of Code Ann. § 58-207 relating to vehicles does not apply. It is contended by the State that the truck might be declared contraband as some "apparatus or appliances" used in the manufacture of moonshine. We do not agree that it comes within that category, but even if it did, in spite of the strict construction we are required to put on the statute, Premium Distrib. Co. v. State of Ga., 89 Ga. App. 222, 230 ( 79 S.E.2d 57), "apparatus or appliances" are not subject to condemnation under the Code section but only to being "summarily destroyed and rendered useless" by the law enforcement officers. Leath v. Rosser, 52 Ga. App. 587 (1) ( 183 S.E. 839).
The judgment overruling intervenor's demurrer must be
Reversed. Bell, P. J., and Jordan, J., concur.