[Download] "Otis v. Walter" by United States Supreme Court # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Otis v. Walter
- Author : United States Supreme Court
- Release Date : January 21, 1817
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 50 KB
Description
This was an action of trover, brought in the state court of Massachusetts, in which Walter, the plaintiff in that court, recovered of Otis damages for the conversion of sundry articles constituting the cargo of a vessel called the Ten Sisters. Otis, the collector of Barnstable, had detained the vessel under suspicion of an intention to violate the embargo laws. (Act of the 25th of April, 1808, sec. 6. and 11.) It has already been decided, in such cases, that it is not necessary to show probable cause; that the law confides in the discretion of the collector, and is, in itself, a sufficient justification, when the discharge of duty is the real motive, and not the pretext for detention. But it has also been decided, that the law relates only to vessels ostensibly bound to some port in the United States; that a seizure is unjustifiable after the termination of a voyage; and that no further detention of the cargo is lawful than what is necessarily dependent upon the detention of the vessel.