United States v. Bateman

• Decision Date: 05 March 1888
• Citation: 34 F. 86
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of California
• Parties: UNITED STATES v. BATEMAN.

34 F. 86

UNITED STATES v. BATEMAN.

United States Circuit Court, N.D. California.

March 5, 1888

Syllabus by the Court

The Presidio military reservation, in the city and county of San Francisco, is not a place 'under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States;' and a homicide committed within the reservation is not an offense against the United States, within the meaning of section 5339, Rev St.

A homicide committed within said Presidio military reservation is not an offense over which the courts of the United States have jurisdiction.

J. T Carey, U.S. Atty., for the United States.

Mitchell & Donnelly, for defendant.

Before SAWYER, Circuit Judge, and HOFFMAN, District Judge.

SAWYER J., (HOFFMAN, J., concurring.)

The defendant is indicted for the murder of Samuel M. Soper alleged to have been committed on July 5, 1887, within the limits of the military reservation situate within the city and county of San Francisco, and known as the 'Presidio.' The indictment is found under section 5339, Rev. St., which provides for punishing a murder committed 'within any fort, arsenal, dock-yard magazine, or in any other place, or district of country under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States. ' The defendant pleads that the place where the murder is alleged to have been committed, is not within the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States; or within the jurisdiction of the United States; and that the offense charged is not an offense against the laws of the United States, within the meaning of the statute; or an offense over which the circuit court has jurisdiction. The admitted facts upon which the decision must depend are as follows: The place where the offense is alleged to have been committed, is within the limits of a military reservation of the United States, situate within the city and county of San Francisco, known as the 'Presidio,' as it was at the time of the commission of the offense, bounded, surveyed, and established, and actually occupied, by the United States for military purposes, having upon its garrisons, officers' and soldiers' quarters, forts, fortifications, etc., in actual use and occupation for military purposes by officers and soldiers of the regular army of the United States. For 35 years prior to the treaty between Mexico and the United States, by which California, including the land in question, was ceded to the United States, and up to the time of their occupation by the United States, the lands within this reservation had been occupied by Mexico as a military reserve, having upon its forts, garrisons, and appurtenances, occupied by Mexican troops for military purposes; and, continuously, from the surrender of these premises by the Mexican forces to the United States down to the present time, they have in like manner been occupied for like purposes by the military forces of the United States. These lands, with all other lands of the state of California, were ceded to the United States by Mexico by the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, of February 2, 1848. On June 23, 1848, prior to the organization of the state government of California, and while under the exclusive sovereignty and jurisdiction of the United States, Capt. J. L. Folsom, assistant quartermaster U.S.A., in compliance with instructions given by B. Riley, brigadier general U.S.A., and military governor of California, dated March 29, 1848, established the boundaries of the said military reservation, which boundaries included the point where the homicide is alleged to have been committed. Afterwards, on November 30, 1848, on the recommendation of the president, a joint commission of navy and engineer officers was appointed for the purpose of examining the coast, with a view to selecting military reservations. Said commissioners, on March 31, 1850, recommended the reservation of the Presidio, with boundaries including the point where the homicide is alleged to have been committed. Thereafter, on November 6, 1850, Millard Fillmore, president of the United States, by an executive order, exempted and reserved from sale, for public services, the last-mentioned tract. Afterwards, by an executive order issued by Millard Fillmore, president of the United States, dated December 31, 1851, which order was confirmed by an act of congress approved May 9, 1876, the boundaries of said reservation were somewhat modified, but they still, and at all times, included the point at which said homicide is alleged to have been committed. On September 9, 1850, California was, by act of congress, admitted as a state into the Union, 'on an equal footing with the original states in all respects whatever. ' There was no reservation of sovereignty over any part of the public lands. The only condition was that there should be no 'interferences with the primary disposal of the public lands within its limits, ' and that the state 'shall pass no law and do no act whereby the title of the United States to, and right to dispose of, the same shall be impaired or questioned; and that they shall never lay any tax or assessment of any description whatsoever upon the public domain of the United States.' 9 St. 452. The only act of the legislature of California brought to the attention of the court, that can possibly be regarded as affecting the question is the act of April 27, 1852, which provides 'that the...