Shattuck v. Maley
U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Pennsylvania
This was an appeal from a sentence of the district court, entered, pro forma, against the appellant. The appellant filed a libel in that court, stating, that being, in May, 1800, a naturalized subject of the king of Denmark, and resident at St. Thomas, and owner of the Mercator, an American built vessel, which he had bona fide purchased from the owner, in November, 1799; he, in May, 1800, put on board of her a cargo, and sent her to Jaque-mel, or Port au Prince, in the…
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This was an appeal from a sentence of the district court, entered, pro forma, against the appellant. The appellant filed a libel in that court, stating, that being, in May, 1800, a naturalized subject of the king of Denmark, and resident at St. Thomas, and owner of the Mercator, an American built vessel, which he had bona fide purchased from the owner, in November, 1799; he, in May, 1800, put on board of her a cargo, and sent her to Jaque-mel, or Port au Prince, in the island of St. Domingo, consigned to the captain, and properly documented to prove her neutrality. That on the 14th of May,…
1Opinion of the Court
WASHINGTON, Circuit Justice.
Previous to the inquiry, whether the appellant lias shown sufficient reasons to excuse him for having captured the. Mercator, and to what degree his responsibility for having done so extends; there is a preliminary question, which deserves examination. It is, whether the commander of an armed neutral vessel, in'the execution of a law of his country, can excuse himself for the violation of the rights of other nations, on the high seas; by showing sufficient ground to suspect, that the vessel thus captured, came within the scope of the law, and of his authority? In…
2Cited by1 opinion
- McGuire v. WinslowU.S. Circuit Court for the District of Northern New York · 1886