Case Summary

On March 29, 1905, Norborne T. B. Pentreath (a citizen of the United States) petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus against Seattle Chief of Police Thomas Delaney, stating that he was being detained illegally due to a request by officials in British Columbia. Judge Cornelius H. Hanford ordered that Delaney show cause in court for Pentreath's detention. The acting Seattle Chief of Police, D. F. Willard, filed a return stating that Delaney had detained Pentreath lawfully because he had received messages from Canadian peace officers that Pentreath had committed a crime. A complaint had been filed in the Seattle Justice Court and Pentreath was charged with the extraditable offense of "unlawfully and fraudulently uttering a forged document, as if it were genuine, knowing it was forged and with intent to defraud." On April 4, 1905, Judge Hanford ruled that Pentreath had been detained unconstitutionally and ordered that he be released from custody. Pentreath's fate after Hanford ordered his release is unknown.

Case Information

Petition type(s)

• Carceral

Petition subtype(s)

• Fugitive from justice
• Unlawfully and fraudulently uttering a forged document

Sites of significance

• Seattle City Jail (Seattle, Washington)

Outcome

Writ allowed

Fate of bound party

Released from custody

Case Citation

RG21 US District Courts, Western District of Washington, Seattle, Records of the Northern Division, Case Files, 1890-1972, No. 1274

Source material(s)

Case File

Length of case file

Between 31 and 40 pages

Repository(s)

• National Archives and Records Administration, Seattle Branch, Washington (Seattle, WA) (Seattle, Washington)

State

• Washington

Point(s) of law cited

Extradition Treaty between the United States and Great Britain

Tag(s)

• Extradition

People

• Pentreath, Norborne T. B. (petitioner)
• Pentreath, Norborne T. B. (bound party)
• Delaney, Thomas (respondent)
• Delaney, Thomas (holding party)
• Mackintosh, Kenneth (respondent attorney)
• Willow, John (respondent attorney)
• Willard, D. F. (respondent)
• Willard, D. F. (responding party)
• Willard, D. F. (holding party)
• Davis, P. V. (authority ordering detention)
• Waller, J. L. (petitioner attorney)
• Rawson, Z. B. (petitioner attorney)
• Hanford, Cornelius Holgate (judge)

• Additional parties

  Rawson, J. B. (Notary Public)

  Moore, A. N. (Deputy Clerk)

  Ayres, A. Reeves (Clerk)

  Hopkins, P. M. (Deputy Clerk)

  Fuller, Melville W. (Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, listed on the writ)

  Hopkins, G. B. (U. S. Marshal)

  Lathe, Fred M. (Deputy)

  Corbett, John (Jailer of Seattle)

  Walthew, H. M. (Deputy Clerk)

  McClay, S. (Complainant)

  Crawford, Thomas (Justice of the Peace)

  Farris, J. W. D. B. (Police Court Clerk)

  Scott, D. (Deponent)

  Wright, B. O. (Deputy Clerk)

  Drake, James C. (Clerk)

  Scott, David (Peace Officer)