United States v. Murphy

84 F. 609, 1898 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedJanuary 19, 1898
DocketNo. 2
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 84 F. 609 (United States v. Murphy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Murphy, 84 F. 609, 1898 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65 (D. Del. 1898).

Opinion

BRADFORD, District Judge.

Gentlemen of the Jury: The indictment in this case charges Edward Murphy, the defendant, with violating section 5286 of the Revised Statutes of the United States. That section comprises certain provisions of the legislation by congress commonly known as the neutrality laws of the United States. It provides that “every person who, within the territory or jurisdiction of the United States, begins, or sets on foot, or provides or prepares the means for, any military expedition or enterprise, to be carried on from thence against the territory' or dominions of any foreign prince .or state, or of any colony, district, or people, with whom the United States are at peace, shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor,” &e. The indictment originally contained eight counts, of which six, namely, the first, third, fourth, sixth, seventh and eight were, before you were impaneled, disposed of on demurrer; leaving for present consideration only the remaining counts, namely, the second ánd fifth. The second count charges that the defendant on or about the fifth day of August, 1896, “did wilfully,. knowingly and unlawfully provide the means for a certain other military expedition, to be carried on from within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States, to wit, from the District of Dele-ware, against the territory and dominions of the King of Spain, a foreign prince, or state, with whom the United States were then and are now at peace, the means provided by the said Edward Murphy being the steamship Laurada, of which he was then and there master, and her crew, of which he was then and there in command and control; the said Edward Murphy remaining master of the said Laurada and in command and control of her crew during the several weeks immediately subsequent to the said fifth day of August, A. D. eighteen hundred and ninety six, during which said last mentioned time the said military expedition was being conveyed and transported by the said steamship Laurada,' of which he was master as aforesaid, from within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States, to wit, from the District of Delaware, to and against the island of Cuba, a dominion of the said King of Spain, a foreign prince, or state, with whom the United States were then and are now at peace; contrary to the form of the act of Congress,” &c. This count, in short, charges that the defendant wilfully, knowingly and unlawfully, provided the means for a military expedition to be carried on from the District of Delaware to and against the island of [611]*611Cuba, a dominion of the King of Spain, with whom the United States then was and still is at peace. A conviction of the defendant under the second count could not be justified in the absence of evidence showing that an expedition, for which he provided the means, was to be carried on from the District of Delaware. No evidence has been adduced that any expedition, military or otherwise, was to be or was carried on from the District of Delaware. You are therefore instructed by the court to render a verdict of not guilty as to the second count.

The fifth count charges that the defendant on the fifth day of August, 1890, “did, within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States, to wit, at the said District of Delaware, wilfully and unlawfully prepare the means for a certain other military enterprise to be carried on from thence against the territory and dominions of a foreign prince, or state, with whom the United States were then and are now at peace, to wit, against the colony and district oí Cuba, which said colony and district at the time herein mentioned was and still is a part of the territory and dominions of the King of Spain, the said United States then and there being- at peace with the said state and with the said King of Spain; that the said Edward Murphy so prepared the means for such military enterprise in that he, on or about the date last aforesaid, being master of a certain steam vessel known as the ‘Laurada’ and in command of said vessel and her crew at: the District of Delaware aforesaid, did then and there proceed with the said vessel and crew down the Delaware River into the Atlantic ocean and thence northward on the high seas off the coast of New Jersey where the said vessel was met under precon-certed arrangement by a certain steam launch known as the ‘Richard K. Fox’ containing- men, and a certain lighter containing arms and ammunition and Lowed by a certain steam tug known as the ‘Dolphin,’ which said men and arms and ammunition were then and there transferred to the said ‘Laurada,’ ami thence carried by it to or near io the island of Navassa in the Caribbean sea where ihe said men and arms and ammunition were transferred from the said ‘Laurada’ to a certain steam vessel known as the ‘Dauntless’ and by it landed on the shore of Cuba, the said men acting together under a preconcerted arrangement and he, the said Edward Murphy, well knowing and intending that the said men and arms and am munition should be so transported and transferred a,ml finally landed on the island of Cuba for the purpose of effecting the said military enterprise as aforesaid and making war upon the territory and dominions of the King of Spain; contrary to the act of Congress,” &e. This count charges, in substance, that the defendant on the fifth day of August, 189(5, knowingly, wilfully and unlawfully prepared the means within the District of Delaware for a military enterprise to be carried on from the United States against the island of Cuba, a dominion of ilie King of Bpain, with whom the United States then was and still is at peace; the means so prepared being the steam vessel Laurada and her crew. The count does not charge*, that the defendant began or set on foot a military enterprise, but [612]*612that be prepared the means for a military enterprise. In order to justify a verdict of guilty you must be fully satisfied from the evidence in the case that all the necessary ingredients of the alleged offence existed or occurred. It is necessary that it shall appear to your satisfaction that on or about the fifth day of August, 1896, the defendant prepared means; that the defendant prepared such means within the District of Delaware; that the means so prepared were means for a military enterprise to be carried on from the territory or waters of the United States; that such enterprise was to be carried on against the territory or dominions of the King of Spain in the island of Cuba; that the United States was at peace with Spain at the time the defendant so prepared means; and that the defendant knew, at the time he prepared such means, the character and purpose of such enterprise.. The court takes judicial notice and instructs you that at the time of the alleged offence the United States was at peace with Spain; that the island of Cuba was at that time and still is part of the territory or dominions of the King of Spain; that at that time an armed insurrection or rebellion existed in Cuba against the Spanish authority and government in that island, and warlike hostilities were then and there in progress between the Cuban insurgents, on the one hand, and the military forces of the King of Spain, on the other. It appears from uncontradicted evidence in the case, of the effect of which, however, you are the ultimate judges, that the defendant was on the fifth day of August. 1896, the master of the Laurada, and that he then controlled her crew and her movements and thereafter continued in such control until after that vessel left the island of Navassa, after having transferred the men and munitions of war to the steam vessel Dauntless at or near that island.

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Bluebook (online)
84 F. 609, 1898 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-murphy-ded-1898.