Roberts v. Reilly

• Decision Date: 14 December 1885
• Citation: 116 U.S. 80,29 L.Ed. 544,6 S.Ct. 291
• Parties: ROBERTS v. REILLY. 1 Filed
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

6 S.Ct. 291

116 U.S. 80

29 L.Ed. 544

ROBERTS v. REILLY.¹

Filed December 14, 1885.

The record in this case shows the following state of facts: On April 30, 1885, the appellant, Roberts, presented his petition to the judge of the district court for the Southern district of Georgia, and filed the same in the office of the clerk, alleging that he was illegally restrained of his liberty by the appellee, Reilly, who claimed to be acting as an agent of the state of New York, and as such to hold the petitioner, under color of the authority of the United States, by virtue of an arrest made in pursuance of an executive warrant issued by the governor of Georgia, on a requisition from the governor of New York, reciting that the petitioner had been indicted in the state of New York, and was a fugitive from the justice of the latter state. He averred that the custody by which he was restrained of his liberty was illegal, for various reasons assigned, and prayed for the writ of habeas corpus. The writ was issued as prayed for, and duly served, and thereupon an amendment to the petition was filed, as follows: 'And now comes the said William S. Roberts, and, by leave of the court first had, amends said petition, and says that he is restrained of his liberty, in violation of a law of the United States, viz., the act of February 12, 1793, (section 5178 of the Revised Statutes of the United States,) in this: that it appears from the record, now here to your honor shown, upon which the executive warrant under which he is now restrained issued, that the crime with which he is charged was committed in the state of Georgia; that the papers accompanying the demand of the governor of New York are not authenticated, as required by that act; that it nowhere appears that the relator was personally within the limits of the state of New York at the time when said alleged crime is stated to have been committed; that it nowhere appears that any evidence was before the governor of New York, at the time he issued his demand, that relator was personally within the limits of New York state when the crime is alleged to have been committed.'

The defendant, Reilly, on May 2, 1885, filed his answer and return, under oath, to the writ of habeas corpus, which had been issued and served upon him, as follows:

'United States of America, Southern District of Georgia, Eastern Division: Pursuant to a writ of habeas corpus, issued by the Hon. EMORY SPEER, judge of the district court of the United States for the Sothern district of Georgia, served upon me, I herewith produce the body of William S. Roberts, and return as the cause of his detention the executive warrant of the governor of the state of Georgia, under which he was delivered to me by authority issued to me by Hon. D. B. Hill, governor of the state of New York, April 22, 1885, here to the court shown, copy of which is annexed, under which I still hold him; I having, as agent of the state of New York, received said Roberts from Wilberforce Daniel, sheriff of the county of Richmond, to be carried to the state of New York, there to be dealt with according to law; that a certified copy of the indictment, found for grand larceny in the state of New York, with evidence of fleeing from justice after commission of the crime, were produced by respondent as received from the governor of New York and delivered to the governor of Georgia, and retained in his office at the time of the issuing of the executive warrant, under which the said Roberts was placed in possession of the respondent by the sheriff of Richmond county. I further return that on April 26, 1885, after the delivery of the said Roberts to me by the sheriff of Richmond county, I was served with a writ of habeas corpus issued by the Hon H. C. RONEY, judge of the superior court of the Augusta circuit, of which circuit the county of Richmond is a part, and by his order required to produce the said Roberts before him April 27, 1885; that from that date until May 1, 1885, I held the said Roberts subject to the order of the said judge, who at said time remanded him into my custody; a certified copy of which proceedings, with the judgment thereon dismissing the writ and remanding him into my custody, is here to the court shown.

'Whereupon this respondent prays that the said writ may be dismissed at the costs of the relator.'

On the hearing before the district court, documents were put in evidence, and constitute a part of the record, as follows:

(1) The authority given by the governor of New York to the respondent, as agent of the state, to take and receive the prisoner as a fugitive from justice, and convey him to the state of New York, to be dealt with according to law.

(2) A copy of the requisition of the governor of New York upon the governor of Georgia, as follows:

'STATE OF NEW YORK, EXECUTIVE CHAMBER.

'David B. Hill, Governor of the State of New York, to his Excellency the governor of the State of Georgia: Whereas, it appears by a copy of an indictment, which I certify to be authentic, and duly authenticated in accordance with the laws of this state, that William S. Roberts stands charged with the crime of grand larceny in the first degree, committed in the county of New York, in this state, and it has been represented to me that he has fled from justice of this state, and may have taken refuge in the state of Georgia: now, therefore, pursuant to the provisions of the constitution and laws of the United States in such cases made and provided, I do hereby require that the said William S. Roberts be apprehended and delivered to Philip Reilly, who is authorized to receive and convey him to the state of New York, there to be dealt with according to law.

'In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name, and affixed the privy seal of the State, at the city of Albany, this twenty-second day of April, A. D. 1885.

DAVID B. HILL.

[Seal of the State New York.]

'By the Governor:

WILLIAM G. RICE, Private Secretary.'

(3) A copy of the application for this requisition made by the district attorney of the county of New York, accompanied and supported by affidavits of William W. Thurston and others, giving in detail the circumstances of the alleged offense, and averring that the prisoner, and one Walton, charged with him, had fled from the justice of the state of New York, and were to be found in Georgia.

(4) A copy of the indictment, as follows:

'COURT OF GENERAL SESSIONS OF THE PEACE OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF NEW YORK.

'The People of the State of New York against William S. Roberts and Edward H. Walton.

'The grand jury of the city and county of New York by this indictment accuse William S. Roberts and Edward H. Walton of the crime of grand larceny in the first degree, committed as follows: The said William S. Roberts and Edward H. Walton, each late of the First ward of the city of New York, in the county of New York aforesaid, on the fourteenth day of February, A. D. 1884, at the ward, city, and county aforesaid, with force and arms, ten written instruments and evidences of debt, to-wit, the bonds and written obligations issued by the Georgetown & Lane's Railroad Company, a corporation duly existing under the laws of the state of South Carolina, and called 'first mortgage bonds,' in and by each of which the said railroad company acknowledge itself indebted to the bearer thereof in the sum of one thousand dollars, and which said sum the said railroad company thereby promised to pay, on the first day of January, A. D. 1913, with interest the same bearing date on the first day of January, A. D. 1883, and being then and there each duly signed by the president and secretary of the said railroad company, and sealed with the seal thereof, and numbered nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen, respectively, and being then and there in full force and effect, and wholly unsatisfied, and of the value of one thousand dollars each, (a more particular description of which said bonds and written obligations is to the grand jury aforesaid unknown,) of the valuable things, evidences of debt, goods, chattels, and personal property of the Bethlehem Iron Company, then and there being found, then and there feloniously did steal, take, and carry away, against the form of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace of the people of the state of New York and their dignity.

'RANDOLPH B. MARTINE, District Attorney.'

Indorsed on back of indictment:

'Filed tenth day of April, 1885. The People v. William S. Roberts and Edward H. Walton. Grand larceny, 1st degree. Sections 528, 530, 540, Penal Code. Randolph B. Martine, District Attorney.

'A true bill.

HENRY A. OAKLEY, Foreman.

'Witnesses: W. W. THURSTON.

'W. P. ST. JOHN.'

The foregoing were certified by the secretary of the executive department of Georgia to constitute a true and complete transcript or copy of papers of file in that office in the matter of the requisition for William S. Roberts by the governor of New York upon the governor of Georgia.

(5) The executive warrant of the governor of Georgia, with the return of the execution thereof by the sheriff, as follows:

'State of Georgia, by Henry D. McDaniel, Governor of said State, to all the Sheriffs and Constables Thereof, Greeting: Whereas, his excellency, David B. Hill, governor of the state of New York, and as the executive authority thereof, has demanded of me, as the executive authority of this state, William S. Roberts, as a fugitive from justice from the state of New York, and has, moreover, produced a copy of indictment charging the said William S. Roberts with having committed, in the said state of New York, the crime of grand larceny in the first degree, which copy [of] indictment is duly certified as authentic by his excellency the governor of the state of New York, and has also appointed and commissioned Philip Reilly agent, on the part of the state of New York,...