41 Me. 430 | Me. | 1856
It was held in Gurney v. Tufts, 37 Maine, 130, that a magistrate’s warrant of commitment must show his authority for issuing it, and that, if it show the want of such authority, it affords no protection to an officer by whom an arrest may have been made. The warrant in that case was similar to the one under which the defendant Weaver has attempted to justify.
It is insisted that a distinction exists between the aids and servants of the officer, and the officer himself, and that, while it is conceded that the latter may be liable, the former should be exempted from liability. But such seems not to be regarded as the law. They must both stand or fall together. “Whenever,” remarks Savage, C. J., in Elder v. Morrison, 10 Wend. 138, “a sheriff or constable has power to execute process in a particular manner, his authority is a justifica
Exceptions overruled.