Mark Yick Hee v. United States

• Decision Date: 13 April 1915
• Docket Number: 190.
• Parties: MARK YICK HEE et al. v. UNITED STATES.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

223 F. 732

MARK YICK HEE et al. v. UNITED STATES.

No. 190.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

April 13, 1915

Hardie B. Walmsley, of New York City (Francis L. Kohlman, of New York City, of counsel), for plaintiffs in error.

H Snowden Marshall, U.S. Atty., of New York City, and Frank Morse Roosa, Asst. U.S. Atty., of New York City.

Before LACOMBE, COXE, and ROGERS, Circuit Judges.

ROGERS Circuit Judge.

The defendants are accused of a violation of two statutes of the United States, and there are two counts in the indictment. The indictment in the first count charged the defendants with a violation of section 11 of the act of Congress of May 6 1882, known as the Chinese Exclusion Act, as amended and added to by the act of July 5, 1884 (22 Stat. p. 58; 23 Stat p. 115). That section reads as follows:

'Sec. 11. That any person who shall knowingly bring into or cause to be brought into the United States by land, or who shall aid or abet the same, or aid or abet the landing in the United States from any vessel, of any Chinese person not lawfully entitled to enter the United States, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall on conviction thereof, be fined in a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars, and imprisoned for a term not exceeding one year. ' Comp. St. 1913, Sec. 4298.

The first count charged that there arrived at the port of New York on the 17th day of June, 1914, from a foreign country, on board the steam vessel Tagus two Chinese persons, one of whom was Chin Woo; that the name of the other was unknown, and that they were not lawfully entitled to enter the United States; that they unlawfully landed in the United States from the said vessel, and that the defendants--

'within the jurisdiction of this court did knowingly, unlawfully, and willfully aid and abet the landing in the United States from said steam vessel Tagus of the said Chinese persons.'

The indictment in the second court charged the defendants with a violation of section 37 of the United States Criminal Code, and of section 8 of the act of Congress of February 20, 1907. Section 37 of the Criminal Code reads as follows:

'Sec. 37. If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of such parties do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each of the parties to such conspiracy shall be fined not more than ten thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than two years, or both. ' Comp. St. 1913, Sec. 10201.

The act of February 20, 1907 (34 Stat. part 1, pp. 898, 906) is an act to regulate the immigration of aliens into the United States, and section 8 of the act provides as follows:

'Sec. 8. That any person, including the master, agent, owner, or consignee of any vessel, who shall bring into or land in the United States, by vessel or otherwise, or who shall attempt, by himself or through another, to bring into or land in the United States, by vessel or otherwise, any alien not duly admitted by an immigrant inspector or not lawfully entitled to enter the United States shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, on conviction, be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or by both such fine and imprisonment for each and every alien so landed or brought in or attempted to be landed or brought in. ' Comp. St. 1913, Sec. 4253.

The second count charged that the defendants did knowingly, unlawfully, willfully and feloniously conspire to bring into and land in the United States by the steam vessel Tagus one Chin Woo, not lawfully entitled to enter.

The jury found the defendant Mark Yick Hee guilty on both counts. The defendant Lee Chung Ho was found guilty on the first count with a recommendation to mercy, and not guilty on the second count. One Ernest Webster was indicted with the defendants but pleaded guilty, and testified as a witness for the government.

It is claimed that the first count of the indictment is fatally defective, in that it does not state the facts upon which it is based. There is nothing in this contention.

Under the Constitution of the United States a person accused of a criminal offense is entitled to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him. There must therefore be such particularity of allegation in an indictment as will enable the accused to understand the charge which is preferred and to prepare his defense. But the principle is well established that while all the elements of the crime charged, or facts necessary to make out the offense, must be fully and clearly set out, it is not necessary to allege matters in the nature of evidence, or to set out the means by which the crime is accomplished, unless the act is one which may be criminal or not according to the circumstances under which it is done. The indictment in this case sets forth fully and clearly every essential fact and informs of the nature and cause of the accusation.

As respects Lee Chung Ho, who was found guilty of aiding and abetting the entry into the United States of two Chinese persons not...