United States v. Wilder

The defendant, who is charged by the United States attorney with smuggling, submits a petition and affidavit showing that he has witnesses beyond the United States who are material to his defense, and he asks a dedimits potestatem to take the depositions of said witnesses under section 866 of the Revised Statutes. The application is resisted by the district attorney on the grounds that it is unprecedented, and without authority, to take the evidence of witnesses in criminal eases by commission, and that the evidence, if taken, would be inadmissible on the trial.

It is so abhorrent to all ideas…