Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 16.pdf/216

 An Interesting Criminal Case. to himself and other officers; proposed to liberate the ship, on condition that Captain Glover would certify that he was not plund ered or treated improperly, which was at first refused, but afterwards, for obvious reasons, complied with and, for the same reasons, a Mr. Hardens, a passenger on board, .being compelled, added his certificate of the truth of the fact. After this his papers were returned to Captain Glover. He was permitted to proceed to Baltimore having been detained 28 hours and the shjp carried from Sharp's Island to Point Lookout. So daring a transaction as the pirated seizure of the Othdio almost within the port of Balti more, excited considerable alarm among the merchants, who had property afloat and ex pected to arrive or which they were about despatching to sea, and high indignation among the citizens here in general. Thus ex cited, it was resolved to arrest the further di-predations of the pirate, two or three ves sels were accordingly provided for the pur pose, manned by our volunteer companies and proceeded down the bay in succession. The vessel which succeeded in capturing the piratical schooner was called the Volunteer, having on board a detachment of two com panies of the Independent and Baltimore United Volunteers, the companies command ed by the brothers Samuel and Joseph Sterrett, but the schooner Volunteer under the direction of Captain Porter of the navy. On approaching near to the pirate, a boat was seen to leave her with four men, and make for the shore; the boat was fired on but af fected a landing. At this time, the piratical vessel hoisted French colors, which she soon lowered and when taken possession of had but three men on board, the others who es caped in the boat were afterwards found on board the French ship Patriot and politely delivered up, five others were afterwards ar rested near Annapolis and the whole, in num ber 12, were imprisoned in this city. The

173

ist of September, the pirates were brought before Judge Houston, district judge of the United States, who took the deposition of Mr. Harden, a passenger on board the Othello, and decided the crime for which the prisoners were in custody was committed within the jurisdiction of the State and, con sequently, the courts of the United States had no cognizance of it, grounding his decision, it is presumed, on the 8th section of "An Act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States" in the wording, viz. : "If any person or persons shall commit, upon the high seas or in any river, haven, bay, or basin, out of the jurisdiction of any particular State, murder, or robbery, or any other of fence, which, if committed within the body of a country, would by the laws of the United States be punished with death," etc. The prisoners were turned over to the custody of the sheriff of Baltimore County by a City Magistrate and Calvert County being nearest to the place where the crime was committed, it was expected the court of that county could alone try the prisoners. The attorney general of the State is said to have since re ported that the judges of the court of Cal vert, hearing the case of the prisoners, gave a decided opinion, that the crime being com mitted on the Chesapeake .Bay, the court of Calvert county could not take cognizance of it and the Criminal court .of this city, who could not 'touch the offence, proceeded on this report, to liberate the prisoners. "There would seem to have existed con siderable difficulty in this case. Samuel Chase, the associate justice of the Supreme Court, U. S., is understood to have coincid ed in opinion with Justice Houston. J. T. Chase is the Chief of Calvert County, respect able as a man and eminent as a lawyer. The counties of this State are all bounded by and do not rim into the bay. What must have been the' case if our late general courts, one for either shore, still existed, I cannot ven ture to say; but, lately, the general courts