Benson v. McMahon

Citations

• 127 U.S. 457
• 8 S. Ct. 1240
• 32 L. Ed. 234
• 1888 U.S. LEXIS 2008

Syllabus

<p>On theffiearing of an appeal from a judgment of a Circuit Court, discharging a writ of habeas corpus which had been issued on the petition of a person arrested for a crime committed in a foreign country, and held for extradition under treaty provisions, the jurisdiction of the commissioner and the sufficiency of the legal ground for his action are the main questions to be decided.; and this court declines to consider questions respecting the introduction of evidence, or the sufficiency of the authentication of documentary proof.</p> <p>When a person is held for examination before a i mmissioner, to determine . whether he shall he surrendered to the Mexr j,. authorities, to he extradited, for a crime committed in Mexico, the question to be determined is, whether the commission of the crime alleged is so established as to justify the prisoner’s apprehension and commitment for trial if the offence had been committed in the United States; and the proceeding resembles in its' character preliminary examinations before a magistrate for the purpose of determining whether a case is -made out to justify the holding of a person accused, to answer to an indictment.</p> <p>The crime of “ forgery,” as enumerated in article 3 of the Treaty of Extradition with Mexico of June 20, 1862, is not confined to the English common-law offence of forgery; but it includes' the making, forging, uttering, and selling to the public, fraudulent printed tickets of admission to an operatic performance, bearing on their face'in print the name of the manager of the operatic company, and also stamped with his name and seal. It seems that such an offence is also included in the crime of forgery as defined by the English common law.</p>