Battle v. United States, 209 U.S. 36 (1908)

Battle v. United States


No. 438


Submitted January 28, 1908
Decided March 2, 1908
209 U.S. 36

ERROR TO THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA

Under Article I, § 8, cl. 17, of the federal Constitution, Congress has power to purchase land within a state for post offices and courts by consent of the legislature of the state and to exercise exclusive legislation over the same.

Under §§ 711 and 5339, Rev.Stat., the United States courts have exclusive jurisdiction of all offenses enumerated in § 5339, committed in a post office owned by the United States over which the state has ceded jurisdiction.

The language of the Constitution, being wide enough to authorize the purchase of land for post offices and the acceptance of a grant of jurisdiction, the language of the statute based thereon will not be taken in any narrower sense as excluding post offices.

Even if the burden of proof be on the government to prove the fact of a prisoner’s sanity, until evidence is given on the other side, the burden is satisfied by the presumption arising from the fact that most men are sane, and the trial judge is not bound to go further than to instruct the jury that the government is bound to prove the fact beyond reasonable doubt, and that the jury consider all the evidence, including the bearing of the prisoner and the manner of his own testimony.

An interruption of the court asking defendant’s counsel to make a proper argument held in this case to be justified, and not a ground for exception.

The facts are stated in the opinion.