Stanley Forman Reed

“ It is the government's contention that after making this fundamental ruling, the district court 'then simply went on to say that the indictments are defective as pleadings if they are intended to charge crimes within the Sherman Act as that Act is construed by the court below.'
We do not read the district court's opinion in that way. Where a court interprets a criminal statute so as to exclude certain acts and transactions from its reach, it would of necessity also hold expressly or impliedly, as the government suggests, that the indictment considered merely as a pleading was defective. ”

“ The indictment in No. 81 charges the defendants, manufacturers of gasoline pumps, a manufacturer of gasoline computing mechanisms and a gasoline pump manufacturing association, and certain of their officers, with conspiracy extending from 1932 to the date of the indictment, January 31, 1941, to fix the prices of computer pumps in interstate trade and commerce, in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. Computer pumps are gasoline pumps embodying a mechanism which calculates, measures, displays and records the quantities and prices of gasoline passing through the pumps to the purchasers. ”

“ Furthermore, at the time of the entry of the District Court judgment, there was no provision for review of orders sustaining demurrers upon grounds other than those involving the construction of the basic statute.
The Criminal Appeals Act, [6] under which the government brought these cases here, now contains a provision for a remand to the circuit court of appeals if review by this Court on direct appeal is found to be unauthorized. The government does not differ with appellees' specific statement that the new provision is inapplicable to this appeal. We do not think that it is applicable. ”