15 Misc. 303 | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | 1895
A writ of. habeas corpus having been issued in this matter, and a return having been made, evidence has been taken before a referee, and upon the proofs a motion is now made for the discharge of the relators, who are in • custody under a warrant issued by the governor of the state of Pew York for their extradition to the state of Massachusetts, where they are charged, in proceedings which' have been taken before a magistrate of that state,, with the commission of felony.
Briefly stated, the charge is that on the night of October 31, 1895, at Webster, in the county of Worcester, in the state of Massachusetts, the relators stole certain property, including certain coupon bonds, described as three Webster water lien coupon bonds. It further appears that the relators, both of whom reside in the city of Pew York, within a short time
Section 827 of the Code of Criminal Procedure regulates the proceedings in such cases, andt,requires that the' prisoner arrested under the warrant of the governor shall be taken before a judge.of the Supreme Court or of any Superior City Court or the presiding judge of a Court of Sessions, who shall inform the prisoner of the cause of his arrest and "the nature of the process, and instruct him that if he claims not to be the particular person mentioned in the indictment,, affidavit or warrant annexed thereto, or in the warrant issued by the governor thereon, he shall have a writ of habeas corpus upon filing an affidavit to-that effect, and that if, after a summary hearing, as speedily as may be consistent with justice, the prisoner shall be found to be the person indicted or informed against and mentioned in the papers above referred to, then the court or judge shall order and direct the officer intrusted with the execution of the warrant of the governor to deliver the prisoner into the custody of the agent designated in the requisition and the warrant issued thereon as the agent of the state from which the requisition has proceeded,
According to the letter of the statute, at least, the only question which the court can determine is the question of the identity of the prisoner with the person against whom the charge has been made, or with the person named in the warrant of the governor, and I think that, with one exception, this construction is also in accordance with the spirit of the statute and the legislative intent which led to its enactment. ,
It has been held that if the papers upon which the governor issued his warrant are before the. court, it has the power to determine whether .or not they charge the prisoner with the commission of a crime, and that if it appear upon such an examination that the commission of a criminal offense in the state demanding the extradition is not sufficiently charged, the court has power to discharge the prisoner upon habeas corpus, notwithstanding the warrant of the governor. People ex rel. Lawrence v. Brady, 56 N. Y. 182 ; People ex rel. Draper v. Pinkerton, 77 id. 245.
It would also seem that it must appear upon the papers that the prisoner is a fugitive from justice, in the sense that. he was either present in the state at the time of the commission of the offense charged, or that the crime alleged is of such a character as ■ necessarily to imply the presence of the prisoner within the state at the time it was committed. This excludes a certain class of crimes which may be committed by persons who are not at the time within the state whose laws have been infringed. To be a fugitive from justice, and, therefore, subject to extradition, it must appear by proof or necessary inference that the prisoner was within, the state at the time of the commission of the crime with which he is charged. If the papers upon which the governor’s warrant is issued tend to show that the case is one coming within this definition, I do not think that the court has any power to try the question on habeas corpus whether the prisoners were or were not, at the time the offense was committed, within the demanding state.
1 think, therefore, that the law applicable to -such cases is :
1. Where the papers- -upon which the governor acted- in issuing his warrant are before the court, it must appear therefrom that the prisoner is duly charged with the .commission of ' a crime in the demanding state.
2. It must also appear upon the face of the papers, either
3. The prisoner must also be identified as the person against whom the charge was made, and for whose arrest the warrant of the governor has been issued.
The question of identity, then, is substantially the only question of fact open to challenge by the prisoner. Whatever other questions maybe raised are questions of law upon a construction of the record by the court.
In the case at bar the evidence of identity is complete. It is beyond dispute that the relators ■ are the persons against whom the Massachusetts warrant has been issued, for whom the governor of that state has made requisition, and who are ' named in the warrant of the governor of this state and found by him to be fugitives from justice. That being the case, under the view of the law which I have taken, the only course open for me is- to dismiss the writ and remand the prisoners to the custody of the officers having them in charge. It may very well be that this will involve great hardship, as the evidence certainly tends to show, as I have said, that they were within the state of Eew York at the time of the alleged offense. But I cannot allow this consideration to affect the ' disposition of the matter, which I believe to be strictly in accordance with law. It cannot be doubted, however, that in the state of Massachusetts they will receive a.perfectly fair trial, and their rights will be adequately protected.
Writ- dismissed and prisoners remanded.