United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Benson v. McMahon, 127 U.S. 457 (1888)

Benson v. McMahon

No. 1420

Argued May 1, 1886

Decided May 14, 1888

127 U.S. 457

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED

STATES FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

Syllabus

On the hearing of an appeal from a judgment of a circuit court discharging a writ of habeas corpus which had been issued on the petition of a person arrested for a crime committed in a foreign country and held for extradition under treaty provisions, the jurisdiction of the commissioner and the sufficiency of the legal ground for his action are the main questions to be decided, and this Court declines to consider questions respecting the introduction of evidence or the sufficiency of the authentication of documentary proof.

When a person is held for examination before a commissioner, to determine whether he shall be surrendered to the Mexican authorities to be extradited for a crime committed in Mexico, the question to be determined is whether the commission of the crime alleged is so established as to justify the prisoner's apprehension and commitment for trial if the offense had been committed in the United states, and the proceeding resembles in its character preliminary examinations before a magistrate for the

Page 127 U. S. 458

purpose of determining whether a case is made out to justify the holding of a person accused, to answer to an indictment.