United States v. McAvoy

The prisoner in this case was indicted and convicted for setting fire to the ship Japan. There were, at the same time, five others indicted and convicted for various felonies. A motion in arrest of judgment was made, in the several cases, on the ground that the indictments were not valid, as they did not contain the signature of the district-attorney, the office being vacant at the time the indictments were found. The motion having been argued by counsel for the prisoners, and the district-attorney for the United States, Judge Betts, assigned, orally, his reasons on deciding the motion, as…