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| The ANNE
16 U.S. 435 (1818) 3 Wheat. 435
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Appellant, the foreign owner of a ship captured in time of war, sought review of a judgment from the United States Circuit Court of the District of Maryland, which pronounced a sentence of condemnation to appellee captors.
OVERVIEW: The captured ship was the first to commence hostilities against the captors. The testimony of the carpenter and cook of the captured vessel asserted that the capture was made within the territorial limits of a Spanish colony. The captors claimed that the ship was outside territorial waters at the time. The Spanish consul interposed a claim on behalf of his sovereign. The Court affirmed the judgment in favor of the captors, holding that their testimony was admissible despite their interest in the outcome of the proceeding. Because the Spanish consul had not been granted special authority by his sovereign to pursue the claim, he lacked standing to do so. Moreover, although the capture might have been made in a neutral territory, it was nevertheless deemed rightful as between enemies, and the captured ship forfeited any neutral protection by commencing hostilities.
OUTCOME: The Court affirmed the judgment that pronounced a sentence of condemnation to the captors.
War of 1812: Privateer capture of British ship
Counsel: Harper for owner of ship/ D.B. Ogden and Winder contra for captors
Opinion: Story, J.
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