United States v. Durkee
U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Northern California
This was a case of an indictment [against John L. Durkee] under the 3d section of the act of May 15, 1820 (3 Stat. 600). It arose out of the movements of a body of men known as the “Vigilance Committee,” in the city of San Francisco, during the excitement which existed in that city during the summer of 1856. The prisoner was charged with being concerned in making-an assault upon a vessel on her way from Sacramento to San Francisco, with arms on board, the property of the…
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This was a case of an indictment [against John L. Durkee] under the 3d section of the act of May 15, 1820 (3 Stat. 600). It arose out of the movements of a body of men known as the “Vigilance Committee,” in the city of San Francisco, during the excitement which existed in that city during the summer of 1856. The prisoner was charged with being concerned in making-an assault upon a vessel on her way from Sacramento to San Francisco, with arms on board, the property of the state, and carrying them off from those to whom the transportation of them had been confided by the authorities.
1Opinion of the CourtMcALUSTER, Circuit Judge
(charging jury). We approach, we trust, the termination of this case with the single desire to dispense evenhanded justice between the parties. Each of you, placed upon that panel, has called upon his God to witness that he has neither bias nor prejudice in this case. As for myself, though it is my sworn duty to convict him whom the law condemns; yet to. convict improperly under the- forms of law would fill me with horror as great as if I were to take into my own hands the issues of life and death, and send down to the grave my fellow-creature without the forms, the guards, and the sanctions…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- State v. ConwaySupreme Court of Missouri · 1853
- State v. HawkinsSupreme Court of Alabama · 1839
3Cited by7 opinions
- Midgett v. StateCourt of Appeals of Maryland · 1981
- State v. BoisvertSupreme Judicial Court of Maine · 1967
- United States v. Steven Wayne LillyCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 1975
- United States v. Brian CarrCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit · 2020
- State v. SlingerlandNevada Supreme Court · 1885
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