Baltimore & Ohio Railroad v. Cain

Citations

• 81 Md. 87
• 28 L.R.A. 688
• 31 A. 801
• 1895 Md. LEXIS 48

Syllabus

<p>Arrest Without Warrant for Breach of the Peace on Railroad Train. —Evidence.—Damages.—Action for False Arrest. — Special Findings of Fact.— When Arrest may be Made Without a Warrant.</p> <p>Plaintiff, while a passenger on defendant’s train, was intoxicated and guilty of a flagrant and continuous breach of the peace. Upon the arrival of the train at a station, the conductor caused plaintiff to be arrested without a warrant, by a police officer, being the first officer whom the conductor saw, and taken before a magistrate, by whom a fine was imposed. In an action for false imprisonment against the railroad company, Held, that under these circumstances the arrest was lawful.</p> <p>The right to make the arrest depended upon whether the plaintiff was in fact guilty of a breach of the peace, and not upon whether he was so charged by the conductor.</p> <p>If the plaintiff had in fact not been guilty of a breach of the peace, the defendant would be liable for the act of the. conductor in ordering his arrest at the railway station for such alleged cause, because the plaintiff while there was still a passenger and entitled to protection against the illegal acts of defendant’s employees.</p> <p>If a felony or breach of the peace has in fact been committed by the person arrested, the arrest may be justified by any person without warrant. And in the above case, the act of the conductor in telegraphing for a policeman and, within a short space of time thereafter, handing plaintiff over to the officer, was in no respect different from a formal arrest of the plaintiff by the conductor in the midst of the riot and disorder, and the prompt delivery of him afterwards to an officer.</p> <p>A person, other than an officer, may take into custody, without warrant, one who in his presence is guilty of an affray or a breach of the peace. And such person may also arrest the affrayer after the actual violence is over, but whilst he shows a disposition to renew it.</p> <p>Where incompetent