THE UNITED STATES vs.

TAN TAYCO

G.R. No. 4723

February 8, 1909

CARSON, J.

FACTS:

This is an appeal from a judgment convicting the appellants, Tan Tayco and Co Sencho, of a violation of
the provisions of section 7 of Act No. 1761 (Opium Law), and sentencing them, and each of them, to a
fine of P500, or in case of insolvency, to the corresponding subsidiary imprisonment prescribed in such
cases, and to the payment of the costs of the trial.
On the night of the 30th day of November, 1907, in the municipality of Ormoc, Province of Leyte, the
municipal treasurer, accompanied by a policeman, found various utensils, used for smoking opium,
including a lamp and a pipe, in a store owned by Tan Tayco, and his partner, Andres T. Avila, These
utensils were found near or under Avila's bed in the room occupied by him jointly with the defendant Co
Sencho, who was employed as an assistant in the store. This room connected with the room occupied by
the defendant, Tan Tayco, by a small passageway. The discovery of these utensils was conclusively
established by the testimony of the witnesses for the prosecution, and was not denied by the Tan Tayco,
who admitted that they were not authorized under the provisions of section 7 of the Opium Law to have
such utensils in their possession. But they denied the allegation of the information, that these utensils
were in their possession or control at the time of their discovery, claiming that they were the property
of Andres Avila, one of the co proprietors of the store. Avila admitted that he was the owner of. the
utensils in question, but swore that at the time of their discovery he was in Cebu, where he had gone an
business not long before the seizure; that he had left for Cebu prior to the passage of Act No. 1761.

ISSUE:

Whether or not opium paraphernalia found in the possession of a person is a conclusive proof for
conviction under the provisions of section 7 of the Opium Law.

RULING:

No. The fact that a pipe and other utensils for smoking opium were found in the store of Tayco, and in
the sleeping room of the other, is not conclusive proof of the fact that those utensils were found in the
possession of Tayco, so as to justify a conviction under the provisions of section 7 of the Opium Law; and
that upon satisfactory proof of the absence of the animus possidendi, they should be acquitted.