The Sheriff and the Accused
A local man wins a legal victory against extradition, only to surrender voluntarily to the sheriff waiting in the courtroom.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
McCumbee, a young man arrested Monday afternoon upon telegraphic advices from Oregon authorities, was liberated this morning by Judge Easterday of the superior court after listening to arguments on a writ of habeas corpus. According to the judge, the Tacoma police had no right to arrest McCumber or hold him a prisoner. Sheriff Russell of Grants Pass, Ore., was in the court room having arrived in the city early this morning for his prisoner and, although he could not seize McCumber, the young man walked up to him and stated that he would go back to Oregon and face the charge. He proclaimed his innocence. Young McCumber, who is a former Tacoma boy, is accused of the theft of $10. The robbery is alleged to have occurred a year ago. He left for Oregon this afternoon with Sheriff Russell.
“The Tacoma police had no right to arrest McCumber or hold him a prisoner.”
Extradition procedures and the rights of individuals held on out-of-state warrants remain a point of tension in modern legal practice. This story highlights the era's reliance on 'telegraphic advice' versus the formal, often slower, machinery of justice.
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