Maltez v. Nagle, 5370.

• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (9th Circuit)
• Citation: 27 F.2d 835
• Docket Number: No. 5370.,5370.
• Parties: MALTEZ v. NAGLE, Commissioner of Immigration.
• Decision Date: 20 August 1928

27 F.2d 835 (1928)

MALTEZ
v.
NAGLE, Commissioner of Immigration.

No. 5370.

Circuit Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

August 20, 1928.

Clarence A. Linn, of San Francisco, Cal., for appellant.

Geo. J. Hatfield, of San Francisco, Cal. (T. J. Sheridan, of San Francisco, Cal., of counsel), for appellee.

Before RUDKIN, DIETRICH, and HUNT, Circuit Judges.

DIETRICH, Circuit Judge.

Appellant, an alien, is held for deportation upon a finding of the immigration officers that he was managing a house of prostitution, or a resort habitually frequented by prostitutes, and was receiving, sharing in, or deriving benefit from the earnings of a prostitute. The warrant for his arrest containing such charges was issued May 2, 1926, and the warrant for deportation September 29, 1927. In the court below a demurrer, for insufficiency, to his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, with which he exhibited the entire administrative record, was sustained, and from the ensuing judgment of dismissal he appeals.

It is first contended that the warrant for arrest was fatally defective, in that it charges several different kinds of immorality, and specifies neither time nor place. Subject to criticism it may be, in that it fails to state time or place; but appellant suffered no prejudice. In advance of the hearing he was supplied with a copy of the sworn statements upon which it was issued, and by these statements he was particularly advised; there neither is nor could be any suggestion that he was at any time taken by surprise. Inasmuch as the several charges recited in the warrant relate to the same time and place, they might all have been embodied in a single indictment or criminal complaint. A fortiori there was no impropriety in grouping them in a single administrative proceeding.

In substance, the other assignments are that the proceedings were unfairly conducted, and there is no competent evidence to support the warrant of deportation; the argument being that, without certain ex parte statements and certain judgments of a state court, the record is devoid of substantial evidence; that the statements are inadequately authenticated, and the immigration officers refused to produce for cross-examination the persons by whom they are supposed to have been made; and that the judgments are incompetent and of no probative value.

On March 31, 1926, appellant was maintaining

27 F.2d 836

a restaurant at 19 Smith street, Alvarado, Cal., that section of the town being popularly known as "Little Tia Juana." In addition to serving meals, he sold soft drinks, cigars, etc., and in a room provided with a player piano he encouraged or permitted dancing. There were also, on the same floor, apparently, three or four bedchambers occupied by his employees. On March 31st he had two male cooks, Jose Lopez and Frank Telles, each of whom he paid at the rate of $2 a day, with board for both and room for one; also two waitresses, Maria Para and Ampora Cesena, each receiving compensation at the rate of $2 a day, with board and room. In addition to acting as waitresses, these women served at the soft drink fountain and danced with patrons of the place as there was demand. So much appellant in effect admits. The government contends that with his knowledge these waitresses practiced prostitution on the premises, and that he shared in the proceeds thereof, all of which he denies

On March 31, 1926, in the presence of federal immigration inspectors, local officers, led by a county detective named Helms, conducted a raid of the district, in the course of which no immoral acts or conditions were observed, but numerous persons, including appellant and his...