Mitchell v. Hughes

Citations

• 104 Wash. 231
• 176 P. 26
• 1918 Wash. LEXIS 1260

Syllabus

<p>Arrest (6) — Authority to Arrest Without Warrant. An officer may not on information or suspicion make an arrest for a misdemeanor' without a warrant, unless the misdemeanor was actually committed in his presence.</p> <p>Sheriffs and Constables — Civil Liability for Negligence — Attempt to Arrest Without Warrant. It is unlawful for officers to combine to stop travelers on the highway in an attempt to find and arrest without warrant some person transporting liquors in violation of the prohibition law.</p> <p>Damages (9 — 11)—Grounds — Proximate or Remote Consequences — Shooting in Conspiracy for Unlawful Arrest. Where an innocent traveler on the highway was shot by one of a party of officers who had unlawfully combined to stop travelers in an attempt to find and arrest without warrant some person violating the prohibition law, the unlawful combination was the proximate cause of the injury, whether the shooting was wanton or not; and it is immaterial that the shooting was not agreed upon by the conspirators in advance.</p> <p>Conspiracy — Civil Liability — Joint Tort Feasors. Where two or more persons enter into an unlawful conspiracy each is responsible for any act done by either in furtherance of the common design, and it is immaterial that the act was the result of a sudden impulse, when it followed in natural sequence in continuous succession of the events.</p> <p>False Imprisonment (4) — Civil Liability — Defenses. It is no defense to an action for unlawful conspiracy by officers to stop travelers on the highway to make arrest for misdemeanor without warrant, that plaintiffs exceeded the speed limit in attempting to escape from supposed highwaymen.</p> <p>Intoxicating Liquors (29, 30) — Regulation — Transportation and Possession. The possession of less than a pint of whiskey in an automobile is not necessarily unlawful, especially when knowledge of its presence is not shown.</p> <p>False Imprisonment (4) — Arrest Without Warrant — Civil Liability — Defenses. Ne