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| The GRAN PARA, 20 U.S. 471( 1822) 7 Wheat. 471
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Libelant, the Consul General of Portugal, filed a libel alleging that silver and gold coins had been taken out of a Portuguese ship by a United State ship in violation of the neutrality acts. The Circuit Court of Maryland entered a decree restoring the property to the original owners, and a claimant, owner of the United States ship, appealed.
OVERVIEW: The libel alleged that money taken from the Portuguese ship had been deposited in a Baltimore bank. The agent for the claimant, the owner of the capturing vessel, alleged that the claimant was a citizen of the Oriental Republic and that he was claiming the money as a lawful prize of war. The evidence showed that the claimant was a citizen of the United States when his vessel was launched. When the ship left port, a commission from the Chief of the Oriental Republic was produced, under which the claimant declared that he intended to cruize. During this cruize, several Portuguese vessels were captured, and the money claimed was taken out of them. The Court found that the claimant's vessel sailed out of the port of Baltimore, armed and manned as a vessel of war, for the purpose of being employed as a cruizer against a nation with whom the United States was at peace. The size of the crew and the lack of cargo demonstrated the intent with which the claimant's ship sailed out of Baltimore. The Court found that the vessel was clearly armed and manned in Baltimore in violation of the Act of June, 1794, c. 296 and the neutral obligations of the United States.
OUTCOME: The court affirmed the circuit court's decree.
Latin American wars of independence
Uruguay privateer took gold and silver from Portuguese ship bound to Brazil
Counsel: Winder for Portugal ; Hoffman contra
Opinion: Marshall, C.J. |
