Goto v. Lane

This is an appeal from a judgment of the District Court of Hawaii refusing a writ of habeas corpus sought by thirteen persons in custody under a judgment of conviction in a territorial circuit court on an indictment for an infamous crime against the laws of that Territory.

In stating the offense, the indictment used the disjunctive “ or ” in several instances where the conjunctive “ and ” doubtless would have been used by an attentive draftsman. Had the matter introduced by the disjunctive been omitted in each instance, or had it been introduced by a conjunctive, the indictment plainly would…