46 F. 1 | N.D. Ill. | 1891
The defendant was indicted at the late session of the grand jury of this court, charging that, while on board a certain vessel, called the “S. K. Martin,” the same being a vessel enrolled under the laws of the United States, and being on a voyage upon the waters of Lake Michigan, the said vessel being then in the waters of the Menominee river, one of the tributaries of Lake Michigan, and within the jurisdiction of this court, the defendant did feloniously take, steal, and carry away a large number of gold coins, to-wit, 10 gold coins of the denomination and value of §10 each, and 10 gold coins of the denomination and value of $5 each, the same being then and there the property of one William H. Evans. A plea of “not guilty” was entered, and upon a trial before a jury a verdict of guilty was rendered. Thereupon a motion in arrest of judgment was made in behalf of defendant. This moticn is based upon the ground that the indict
.“Section 1.‘ That every person who shall upon any vessel registered or enrolled under the laws of the United States, and being on a voyage upon the waters of any of the Great Lakes, namely, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, or any of the waters connecting any of the said lakes, commit or be guilty of any of the acts, neglects, or omissions respectively mentioned in chapter 8, tit. 70, of the Revised Statutes of the United States, shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished with the same punishment in the said title and chapter respectively affixed to the same offense there mentioned respectively. Sec. 2. That the circuit and district courts of the United States, respectively, are hereby vested with the same jurisdiction in respect to all the offenses mentioned in the first section of this act that they by law have and possess in respect to the offenses in the said chapter and title in the first section of this act mentioned; and said courts respectively are, for the purposes of this act, vested with all and the same jurisdiction they respectively have by force of title 13, c. 7, of the Revised Statutes of the United States.”
Upon the trial before the jury the testimony showed the facts substantially as stated in the indictment, — that is, that the defendant was employed as cook on the steam barge or vessel S. K. Martin, which was a vessel duly enrolled and licensed for the coasting trade, and while said vessel was lying in the Menominee river, about half a mile above its mouth or entrance into Lake Michigan, taking on a cargo of lumber to be transported from said point to the city of Chicago by means of a voyage in the waters of Lake Michigan, the larceny charged was committed by breaking into the captain’s office on said steamer, and stealing therefrom the money described in the indictment; that, after the vessel had left the Menominee river and was proceeding on her voyage upon the waters of Lake Michigan to the port of Chicago, the defendant was suspected of the crime, and; on being charged with guilt by the captain, he told the captain where he had concealed a part of the money, and .the same was found in the place of concealment he had indicated. So that both by the terms of the indictment and the proof on the trial, the facts appear tlaat the office was broken into and the money taken therefrom while the vessel was lying in the Menominee river. The act of congress quoted only gives the United States circuit and district courts jurisdiction of the crime of larceny (punishable under section 5356) when committed on board a vessel enrolled or registered under the laws of the United States while on a voyage upon the waters of any of the Great Lakes or the waters connecting any of said lakes. The vessel upon which this larceny was committed was not at the time of said larceny on a voyage on any of the Great Lakes or the waters connecting any of said lakes, but she was lying in the waters of the Menominee river. This river does not connect any of the Great Lakes, but, as the