Bacharach v. Lagrave

4 Thomp. & Cook 215, 8 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 689
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Bacharach v. Lagrave. Read the opinion of the Court — 47 How. Pr. 385
New York Supreme Court·Decided July 15, 1874·Published

Opinion

Daniels, J.

The defendant applied to have the order for his arrest vacated because he had been brought into the United States as a fugitive from justice, under the extradition treaty existing between this country and France. He was arrested under the order '.before he could return to France, and while he was still in custody. .After such arrest he gave bail, and in that manner secured his discharge. This circumstance is now relied upon, by way of answer, to his application, as a waiver of his right to the relief asked fon And many authorities are cited by the plaintiff’s counsel holding’ that an appearance in the action, even though informal, will be,

■ attended with the effect of waiving irregularities in the means'made use of to bring the defendant into court. That principle, as a general proposition, is very well settled; but it does not follow from it that the defendant’s application should be denied for that reason. What ne particularly complains of now is, not the means or process by which he was brought into court, but the restraint imposed upon [217]*217his person hy the order of arrest. And among all the authorities relied upon, but one in any way affects the consideration of that point, and that is the case of Petrie v. Fitzgerald, 1 Daly, 405. In that it was held that a party arrested on the way from court, which he had attended as such, waived his right to be discharged, on the ground of - his privilege, by giving bail in the action. This was held by the court as the result justified by the authorities, although very well-considered cases were referred to, inconsistent with that view. And the conclusion was sustained because the order was not assailed, but the arrest made under its authority at a time when it could not be enforced. Id. 407.

In the present case the order is assailed, not simply on the ground of a mere privilege, but because of the implied guaranty offered by the treaty that the defendant should be freely allowed to return to the country from whence he was brought, in pursuance of its provisions, for the sole and only purpose of being tried upon a specified criminal offense. Such a claim, it was held in the case of Williams v. Bacon, 10 Wend. 636, was not within the rule privileging suitors and witnesses from arrest while going to, attending at and returning from court. And while the application then made for the discharge of the order and the arrest under it were denied, it was not done because the right had been in any way jeopardized or lost by the proceedings taken in the case.

The provision of the Code upon this subject is comprehended in very general terms. It allows a party arrested on an order to apply on motion to vacate the order, of arrest at any time before judgment, and even after that, where the arrest may be made less than twenty days before its recovery. Code, §§ 183, 204. -These provisions contain no restriction as to the ground on which the application may be made, and the right secured by them is in no way rendered dependent upon the circumstance that no appearance may have previously been made in the action by the applicant; neither do they discriminate in any respect as to the grounds on which the discharge of the order may be applied for. The remedy is general in its nature; sufficiently so to include the protection of every possible right the defendant may he able to show in favor of his exoneration from the proceeding taken to arrest him; and, under its general nature, the motion may be made and maintained, whenever it can be successfully shown that no right to-the order and arrest, under the circumstances, existed, after bail has been given, even though [218]*218that may not be done in support of a mere personal privilege. Modern legislation in this State has been repeatedly changed for the purpose of facilitating the right of arrested parties to secure their discharge on bail, and afterward also by motion, where the right of arrest can be shown not to exist; and it is the duty of the courts to place no needless' obstacle in the way of parties applying for the benefit of the provisions made in their favor, but to maintain and apply them in the spirit that has led to their enactment. Under these provisions no reason is apparent for including one case within them and excluding another, from them, where the party arrested can show a positive right tp be set at liberty. They were enacted for the purpose of protecting persons in the complete enjoyment of that right when its existence can be satisfactorily maintained, without discrimination as to the peculiar reason on which it may appear to depend. Whether this should extend so far as to include- the protection of a mere personal privilege, after bail has been given and a discharge secured in that manner, it is not designed at this time to decide. But where the law has secured an-absolute right to exemption from arrest, the case is manifestly different, and within the protection of the provisions of the Code allowing the motion to be made after bail has been given.

The objection, must therefore be considered and'disposed of, which has been presented in the defendant’s behalf, whether an order for his arrest was proper under the circumstances shown in support of the present application. It may be properly assumed, in the disposition of it, that he was a fugitive from justice, residing in the French republic, and only amenable to the laws of this State by force of the extradition remedy provided, for by the treaty. Without the provision made, he could not have been brought here from that country; and that provided that it could be done only in a prescribed and particularly enumerated class of cases. The effect of such a specification, according to well-settled principles of construction, is to exclude the remedy from all but the enumerated cases. As to those not mentioned, the negative is as effectually implied as though it had been expressly declared.

For that reason when the defendant was extradited it was for the purpose of answering the crime mentioned in the proceedings taken against him, and for no other purpose whatsoever. As to all other matters, being beyond the reach of the laws of this State he was absolutely entitled to his freedom. He was extradited for a single [219]*219special purpose, that of being tried for the crime for the commission of which he was removed from the protection of the laws of France. Beyond that he was entitled to the protection of those laws so far as his personal liberty would have been secured by them in case no removal of his person had been made. In the language of the treaty he was delivered “up to justice” because he was accused of one of the crimes which it ennumerated. 8 U. S. Stat. at Large, 582, art. 1; id. 617. And it was implied in his surrender that he should be at liberty to return again to France when the purposes of justice had been performed in the charge made against him. The nature of the treaty as well as good faith with the foreign power entering into it will permit of no other construction. That power consented by the provision made to surrender the person entitled in all other respects to its protection, for trial and-punishment on a particularly specified charge; and for no other end or object whatsoever. Without the provision made he could not be extradited at all; and by that it can only be done for a clearly-defined object. And it therefore becomes the duty of the power to which the surrender may be made, faithfully to secure its proper observance.

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Bacharach v. Lagrave, 4 Thomp. & Cook 215, 8 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 689 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1874).

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Related

Williams v. Bacon
10 Wend. 636 (New York Supreme Court, 1834)
Snelling & Baxter v. Watrous
2 Paige Ch. 314 (New York Court of Chancery, 1830)
Petrie v. Fitzgerald
1 Daly 401 (New York Court of Common Pleas, 1864)
Carpenter v. Spooner
2 Sandf. 717 (The Superior Court of New York City, 1850)