13 La. 371 | La. | 1839
delivered the opinion of the court.
The defendant is appellant from a judgment which condemns him to pay the value of a slave of the plaintiff, taken on board of the steam-boat of which the former was master, without the consent of the latter, the slave having fallen overboard.
The facts of the case are these: the slave, who is stated in
Our attention is directed to a bill of exceptions taken to the admission of the deposition of William Brown, a black man, on the ground that he must be presumed to be a slave ; and there was no evidence of his freedom, except a part of his deposition, in which he avers he was free, and had free papers. The court overruled the objection, on the suggestion that it was taken too late at the trial, and ought to have been made before the commissioner.
It does not appear to us the court erred, although the reason given for overruling the objection would not, perhaps, have been sufficient; but the witness was examined twice, and cross-examined on the part of the defendant, who, in our opinion, ought not to be permitted to repudiate testimony of which he had sought to avail himself.
A second bill of exceptions was taken to the refusal of the judge to receive evidence in support of a plea to the jurisdiction of the court, on the ground of the residence of the defendant out of the parish in which he was sued ; the court being of opinion that the plea was waived, and, after argument, rejected by the court.
We understand that the court meant that the plea was waived by the defendant’s neglect to provoke the action of the court on it, and proceeding to trial upon the merits before a jury sworn to try the issue, and that, therefore, the court rejected it. It does not appear to us the court erred.
A third bill was taken to the refusal of the court to charge
The court, therefore, did not err in refusing to say that the 5th section of that act which contained this injunction is inapplicable to boats running within the state. This section relates only to concealed slaves; but the proviso in the first section of said act creates a presumption that all slaves found on board are received or concealed for the purpose of being carried out of the state, unless the presumption be removed by the party accused. We are ignorant of any law that requires the master of a steam-boat to cause her to be searched before her departure, for concealed slaves; but we concur with the judge a quo in the opinion, that it is the duty of a master of a boat, as soon as he discovers a slave on board, to cause him to be landed or secured.
Steamboats offer such facility to the escape of slaves, that as soon as the master of a boat discovered that his vigilance had been eluded, and that a slave had come on board against the will of his owner, he ought to take measures for his detention and return. In the present case, the cook, for whose conduct the master is responsible, employed the plaintiff’s slave, without taking any measure for securing him. It does not appear to us that the verdict is incorrect in
It is, therefore, ordered, adjudged and decreed, that the judgment be annulled, avoided and reversed, and that the ■plaintiff recover from the defendant the sum of six hundred dollars, with costs in the court below, and that he pay those of the appeal.