Lum Yan v. United States

• Decision Date: 13 February 1912
• Docket Number: 1,984.
• Citation: 193 F. 970
• Parties: LUM YAN v. UNITED STATES.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

193 F. 970

LUM YAN v. UNITED STATES.

No. 1,984.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

February 13, 1912

John W Cathcart, Fred W. Milverton, and E. C. Peters, for plaintiff in error.

Robert W. Breckons, U.S. Atty., and W. T. Rawlins, Asst. U.S. Atty (Robert T. Devlin, U.S. Atty., and Benjamin L. McKinley Asst. U.S. Atty., of counsel), for the United States.

Before GILBERT and ROSS, Circuit Judges, and WOLVERTON, District Judge.

WOLVERTON District Judge.

The plaintiff in error was indicted, tried, and convicted of the crime of bigamy. During the course of the trial two letters were offered and received in evidence, over the objection of counsel for plaintiff in error, and the action of the court in admitting the letters is assigned as error. The first of these letters is addressed on the envelope:

'To His Father, Lin Tsan-yuan, from Lin I-man, of the Village of Hengwei, in the District of Hsiang.'

The letter reads:

'Dear Father: * * * Since your business is so prosperous and you are in need of some one to help you in your many affairs, my mother and I are very desirous of coming to you that day and night we may all be happy together. Should you get a certificate permitting you to bring your wife (to the United States), you can intrust it to some friend to bring it over and thus save expense. * * * As to your remark about marrying a wife, mother is very unwilling, since her two sons are already grown and the family is poor. * * * I can only beg you, my father, to remember your family kindly.'

The second letter is addressed on the envelope:

'A Letter of Peace and under Separate Cover (a Draft) for $50 Current Coin at Exchange of .72 (i.e., Mexican dollars, which are valued at .72 tael, or Chinese ounce). * * * From Lin Tsan-yuan (same as Lum Yan).'

The letter reads:

'To My Son, Lin I-man (Cantonese Lum Yet-mun): * * * I should like very much to do as you suggest, intrust to some friend the necessary papers to bring you and your mother here, but to do so is very difficult. In the first place, living here is very expensive. * * * This month I find I can send you (a draft for) $50 current coin of .72 (i.e., Mexican dollars-- .72 tael). On receipt you can use it for household expenses. It is good that you and your brother are staying at home. The important thing is to heed your mother's instructions.' These letters are offered as tending to show that the plaintiff in error was married to a woman in China. A subsequent marriage to another woman was clearly shown by the testimony. These letters were procured from the plaintiff in error by the United States district attorney and one Loo Joe-- a person connected with the Department of Justice in the capacity of interpreter-- and a deputy marshal of the United States for the district of Hawaii, who went to the house of the plaintiff in error for the purpose of getting from him his registration papers. In the effort to find such papers, the plaintiff in error produced a box, which the district attorney took into his possession and carried away to his office. The box being opened by keys produced by the plaintiff in error, the officers made search of the contents, and in doing so found the letters. They had translations made of them, and on the trial produced them in evidence, as previously indicated.

Counsel for plaintiff in error insists that the letters should not...