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In the matter of the application of J. P. Black for Writ of Habeas Corpus

September 28, 1894 - October 1, 1894

Petitioned on September 29, 1894

Filed before the King County Superior Court (Seattle, Washington)

Case ID: hc.case.wa.0926

Case Summary

On October 1st, 1894, Seattle’s Chief of Police Bolton Rogers stated that on September 28th, 1894 he received a telegram from Portland, Oregon’s Chief of Police Charles H. Hunt which instructed him to arrest J. P. Black on the charge of forgery. Black is described as a twenty-four year old with light complexion, who worked at some point for the Schwabacher Brothers in Washington. Either the 28th or the 29th(the second number is unclear) of September, J. Lesser petitions on Black’s behalf for a writ of habeas corpus. Lesser's relationship to Black is unknown. Lesser says there was no valid warrant or authority of law, that Rogers was refusing to let Black talk to a lawyer or any of his family or friends, and that the cause of Black’s arrest was unknown to him. Judge Richard Osborn allows the petition, and says the case is to be heard in the court of Thomas J. Humes. Rogers states that on the day the writ was served to him, he received instructions from Hunt to release Black.

Case Information

Petition type(s)

  • Carceral

Petition subtype(s)

  • Forgery

Sites of significance

Fate of bound party

Released from custody

Case Citation

King County Government, Judicial Records, Superior Court, Case No. 1068

Source material(s)

Case File

Length of case file

Between 11 and 20 pages

Repository(s)

State

  • Washington

People

Citation

Katrina Jagodinsky, Cory Young, Andrew Varsanyi, Laura Weakly, Karin Dalziel, William Dewey, Erin Chambers, Greg Tunink. “In the matter of the application of J. P. Black for Writ of Habeas Corpus.” Petitioning for Freedom: Habeas Corpus in the American West, 1812-1924, University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Accessed November 21, 2024. https://petitioningforfreedom.unl.edu/cases/item/hc.case.wa.0926

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