Case Summary

John N. Baldwin, the petitioner and petitioner attorney, filed a writ of Habeas Corpus on behalf of Anna Walter in 1922 after her incarceration for being an alleged fugitive from justice from the state of Maine. The warrant from Maine stated to arrest Margaret Sterling, aliases Mrs. A. Willard and Mrs. Robert Walter, for fraud. Anna Walter's petition stated that she was not in Portland, Maine, during the time of the crime. Furthermore, Robert Walter, husband of Anna, verified that he is her husband and can verify that she was not in the state of Maine during the time of the alleged offense. The petitioner team filed for a new trial and appealed to the Supreme Court; the appeal to the Supreme Court of Nebraska was dismissed at the cost of the petitioner. A new writ of Habeas was filed in February of 1922 after the Supreme Court dismissal; the outcome is unclear.

Case Information

Petition type(s)

• Carceral

Petition subtype(s)

• Fugitive from justice

Sites of significance

• Omaha City Jail (Omaha, Nebraska)

Outcome

Unknown

Fate of bound party

Unknown

Case Citation

Douglas County (NE) Criminal Appearance Docket Books, Vol. 24: ca. 1921 - 1922, p. 596; RG230 Douglas County Records, Subgroup 10: District Court, 1855-1972, Series 7: Criminal Case Files, 1897-1920, Roll 104: 24-581 to 24-704, Jan. 18, 1922 - Feb. 23, 1922, No. 24-596 (microfilm)

Source material(s)

Docket | Case File

Length of case file

Between 21 and 30 pages

Repository(s)

• History Nebraska (Lincoln, Nebraska)
• Douglas County District Court (Omaha, Nebraska)

State

• Nebraska

People

• Baldwin, John N. (petitioner)
• Baldwin, John N. (petitioner attorney)
• Walter, Anna (bound party)
• Dusen, Charles Van (Deusun) (respondent)
• Dusen, Charles Van (Deusun) (holding party)
• Shotwell, Abel V. (respondent attorney)
• Troupe, A. C. (Troup) (judge)

• Additional parties

  Smith, Robert (clerk)

  Dempsey, Michael (chief of police)

  Dunn, Henry W. (commissioner of police and sanitation for Omaha)

  Wheeler, Phillip W. (deputy sheriff of Portland, Maine)

  Hyers, Gus (sheriff)

  Sterling, Maragret (person named in the warrant)

  Rey, Ethel (notary public)

  McKelvie, Samuel R. (governer of Nebraska)

  Baxter, Percival P. (governer of Maine)

  Amsbury, Darius M. (secretary of state)

  Walker (attorney with Baldwin)

  Walter, Robert (husband of Anna Walter)

  Lindsay, H. C. (clerk)

  B., P. F. (deputy)

  Hatter, N. V. (deputy)