Arturo Elias v. Eduardo Ramirez

• Decision Date: 03 January 1910
• Docket Number: No. 30,30
• Parties: ARTURO M. ELIAS, Appt., v. EDUARDO RAMIREZ
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

215 U.S. 398

30 S.Ct. 131

54 L.Ed. 253

ARTURO M. ELIAS, Appt.,

v EDUARDO RAMIREZ.

No. 30.

Submitted November 5, 1909.

Decided January 3, 1910.

Mr. A. C. Baker for appellant.

Mr. William Herring for appellee.

Mr. Justice McKenna delivered the opinion of the court:

Appellee was arrested as a fugitive from justice in pursuance of the provision of a treaty of extradition between Mexico and the United States [31 Stat. at L. 1818], and, after a hearing before John H. Campbell, judge of the district court of the first judicial district of Arizona, sitting as a commissioner in extradition proceedings, he was committed, on the charge of forgery and the utterance of forged papers, to the custody of the United States marshal for Arizona, to abide the order of the President of the United States in the premises. Upon his petition to the supreme court of the territory for habeas corpus, he was discharged from custody, and from the judgment of the court the case is here on appeal.

The court decided that the offense charged is within the terms of the treaty between the United States and Mexico, 'that the committing magistrate had jurisdiction of the subject-matter and the accused,' and that the complaint was sufficient. The court, however, held that there was not sufficient legal evidence to establish the fact of forgery, and that therefore 'the judge of the district court exceeded his jurisdiction in holding the petitioner (appellee) for extradition.' This ruling constitutes the question in the case.

The complaint, summarized, is that Ramirez forged certain railroad wheat certificates, which purported to have been issued by the Southern Pacific Company to show the true weight of certain car loads of wheat shipped from the United States to Mexico, and had the further purpose to show the amount of custom duties to be paid to Mexico. The certificates, in order to appear authenticated, it is alleged, purported and were intended to show that they were signed or sealed or stamped by the railroad company with a seal or stamp containing the words 'gross weight, tare, net weight,' and that the true gross, tare, and net weight of the wheat in each of the cars were inserted by the company after those words, and that the certificates were initialed with the letters 'G. W. B.'

It is alleged that the certificates were not so authenticated by the company or anyone in its employ, and did not show the weight of the wheat, but showed that there was much less than the true weight. It is alleged also, with the usual repetition, that Ramirez forged the stamp and seal and the initials 'G. W. B.,' and did 'use and utter' the certificates, and presented them 'to the customhouse of the government of Mexico and the officials thereof,' at the town of Nogales, 'as true and genuine wheat certificates of the said railroad company, and as showing the true weight contained in the said cars.'

There were two importations of wheat from Nogales, Arizona, to Nogales, Mexico, in the name of E. Ramirez. The manifest or request for importation was made to the proper officers at Nogales, Mexico, in the name of and for E. Ramirez. It was the duty of the Mexican inspectors of customs to inspect and weigh the wheat, in order to compute the proper amount of duties. One of the importations was inspected by one Manuel Rosas, the other by one Francisco Enriquez, both of whom were implicated in the prosecution in Mexico for the crimes of fraud against the federal treasury and forgery of private seals.

Rosas testified that he examined the interior of the cars in a superficial manner, 'satisfying himself by opening a sack that said cars contained the merchandise represented.' He did not weigh the merchandise, because it came billed in car-load lots, and 'did not come designated as to so many bundles, and also because the customhouse lacked the proper scale facility.' He testified that 'the railroad of Sonora issued to the applicants a ticket with the seal of the office, without any signature, bearing thereon, indicated in lead pencil writing, the number of the respective cars, the net weight, and the gross weight. It was so done in this case that he compared the data upon the tickets with reference notes with those presented by the customs agent, and, finding them to correspond with each other, he had no objection in authorizing, over his own signature, the correctness of the same, and ordered it 'despatched." As soon as the tickets, he further testified, are compared with the applications, they are destroyed, and that he did not know what had become of them in this case. He further testified that the applications were delivered to him by the customhouse collector, which applications manifested the weight of the merchandise to be imported, and, 'this being done, the manifest passed into the possession of the revisers, who solicit the railroad ticket from the interested parties for the purpose of verifying the respective comparisons.' The person of whom he 'asked for the tickets was Mr. Manuel Ramirez, who was in charge of the customs department of the house.' Further testifying, he said that he did not know the origin of the tickets 'by their form of writing;' that he did not find in any of them any erasures nor any trace of alteration, and could not tell 'even vaguely the name of the employees who wrote the tickets;' that he did not know whether any person was present 'when the corresponding tickets were delivered to him;' that he had no knowledge, from 'private sources or otherwise, of Mr. Cerilo Ramirez's connection with the customs agency that operates under his name.' He recognized, from the books of the railroad exhibited to him, the seals to be the same used by the company to express the weight, not recollecting having personally seen the books. Explaining how he 'erred,' he testified that it was because he did not go personally to the offices of the railroad to compare the true weight at those offices, but instead relied on the tickets presented by Manuel Ramirez, 'which were forged, in the sense that the said Ramirez personally, or in accord with some employee of the railroad,' forged the tickets, 'making use of the seals of the railroad.'

Francisco Enriquez testified substantially to the same effect, though in some parts more fully. He testified that the tickets came approved by Mr. G. W. Bowman, chief of the station of the Sonora Railroad. He, however, did not know, he said, the handwriting of Bowman 'to the extent of being able to identify the same to a certainty,' because 'the tickets in question only bring numbers, made in great haste, setting forth the number of the car, the gross weight, the net weight, and the tare, calculated in pounds,' of which he 'made the computation into kilos.'

Ignacio Alleo testified that he was a private employee of the firm under investigation, and served for five years as freighter for the firm or house; that his duty was to receive the loose freight from the American side, delivered to him at Nogales, Arizona, to place the same in the cars which convey it south; that in doing so he takes note of the number of bundles, marks, countermarks, weights, and other memoranda which serve to form the applications for shipment; that said data are made on loose papers, which he delivers to Manuel Ramirez, who makes out the applications for shipment; that 'Ramirez is also occupied in making the applications for exportation, reimportation, more properly exportation;' that he, the witness, had no other connection with the direct importation than to copy some applications for shipment; that when he came to the house, five years ago, Manuel Ramirez had been serving the house for a long time, and that Ramirez had 'personal charge of the dealings with the employees of the customhouse, all relative to importations;' that the head person in charge of the office 'was Eduardo Ramirez, who had full power to act from the owner of the business, Cerilo Ramirez; that up to three years ago, Alberto Masarenas kept the accounts of the house, since then he did not know who had, but that the cash accounts, he understands, were kept by Mr. Escobara.'

Ignacio Escobara had testified before, but he would not ratify his former testimony in all respects, he said, because it was given 'under the belief that his gratitude towards his employer compelled him to do so,' and that, after mature consideration, he realized that he was not required 'to tell an untruth in a proceeding which may stain his honor, and for that reason he was disposed to tell the truth.' And he testified that from the beginning of the proceeding against Messrs. Campello he noticed the greatest uneasiness, excitement, and fear in Eduardo Ramirez, Luis Bartning, and Cerilo Ramirez; from that time they began to prepare themselves, 'fearing to become involved in the same manner as Messrs. Campello and associates; that he plainly noticed the attitude of the above gentlemen and the danger in which they were.' He further testified that 'he saw and noticed their conduct, as well as listening to their conversation,' and that 'the manner of preparing themselves consisted in making up packages of correspondence and documents carefully selected and packed in a wooden box which stood in a patio or court during the day and disappeared at night without' his knowing what became of it; that he was under the impression that it was taken to the American side, not being able to tell 'from whom he heard it in the office of the firm,' but he believed...