Black, Jack, 1871-1932; Criminals -- Canada -- Biography; Criminals -- United States -- Biography
When we went into court the Canadian officer produced his warrant. It
was the biggest document I ever saw—a piece of parchment about three
feet long, embossed, engraved, and signed and sealed with the seal of
Queen Victoria—a formal demand from the British Government on the
Secretary of State to deliver us over to the Canadian authorities. He
had it in a bag carefully rolled and wrapped in paper. Taking it out
carefully, reverently, he placed it in the judge’s hands.
“Where did you get this document?” the court asked.
“From Ottawa, the capital of Canada,” the officer answered.
“Did you go to Ottawa yourself for it?”
“No, it came to Victoria by mail.”
Looking at it closely the judge pointed to a name signed at the bottom.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“That is the signature of Lord Aberdeen, governor general of Canada.”
“Did you see him sign it?”
“No.”
“Hm,” said the judge, laying it down.
Our lawyer picked it up and appeared to read it carefully. Turning to
the officer, he asked: “How do you know that is Lord Aberdeen’s
signature? Were you there when he signed it? Did you ever see him sign
his name to any paper? Did you ever see Lord Aberdeen? What’s this
thing?” He tapped the seal, the big red seal half as large as your hand.
“That is the seal of Her Majesty, Queen Victoria of England,” the man
answered, getting indignant and red in the face.
“Oh, it is, is it? How do you know it is? Did you see her put it there?
Is she here to identify it? There’s no Victoria here in this court, is
there? This might be the seal of Jane Doe, a waitress. Anybody can have
a seal. Do you think the court is going to recognize this thing? You’ll
have to come in here with something better than that,” he said, throwing
it on the floor and kicking it under a table.
The officer got down from the witness stand, picked it up, brushed it
off, and carefully put it away.
The judge then said: “This court cannot recognize that as a valid
document. You come here with a paper demanding custody of these
defendants, but we have here no proof that it is genuine. It might be a
forgery. We know there is such a person as Lord Aberdeen, of Canada,
but we have no proof that his signature is on that warrant. I cannot
hold defendants on such evidence.”
We were discharged again. I don’t know where the money went that I gave
the lawyer who sold us the point that beat the extradition; I know the
judge didn’t give us any the worst of it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account