The Opium Smuggler Who Beat Prison by Oversleeping
A Tacoma jury convicted Jack Forbes of smuggling 110 pounds of opium—but the defendant slept through the verdict, and the judge let him go until a new trial.
Tacoma, March 6.—A dramatic scene occurred this afternoon in the federal circuit court when, after being out six hours, the jury in the Jack Forbes smuggling case filed into court with a verdict. The prisoner had overslept and was not present. After giving his bondsmen ten minutes to produce the defendant’s body, Judge Hanford promptly discharged the jury and had judgment entered for $2,000 against Forbes and his bondsmen. The verdict is understood to have been “guilty,” and by his negligence Forbes escaped imprisonment. Next June he will be tried again. He is accused of smuggling 110 pounds of opium.
“After giving his bondsmen ten minutes to produce the defendant’s body, Judge Hanford promptly discharged the jury and had judgment entered for $2,000 against Forbes and his bondsmen.”
Forbes’s accidental no-show turned a guilty verdict into a bond forfeiture—a reminder that court logistics can matter as much as evidence. Modern drug-smuggling cases still hinge on bail, forfeiture and the question of whether a defendant appears at the right moment.
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