The Hawaiian gazette., 1909-02-02
DR.. ATCHERLEY
IS DISCHARGED

was ordered discharged by Circuit
Judge Robinson on the writ of habeas
corpus secured by Attorney j. A. Ma
goon.
Atcherley left the courtroom with his
wife, a free man, and it now remains
with the officers of the prosecution if
they intend to furtheryrestrain him of
his liberty.
Judge Robinson held that the COM
mitment of Atcherley to the insane
asylum of the Territory was in viola
tion of the Fifth Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States In
discharging Atcherley from custody the
court said:
'In my opinion section 1116 of the
Revised Laws of Hawaii is in direct
conflict with the Fifth Amendment to
the Constitution of the United States,
which declares no person shall be de-
prived of life, liberty or property with
out due process of law. Let the person
claimed to have been deprived of his
liberty, DR.. John Atcherley, and in
whose behalf this writ was fled, be
discharged from custody"
Reiterates Charges.
This was the ruling that set at naught
the findings of District Magistrate An
drade, under whose ruling DIR. Atcher-
ley was turned over to the custody of
DIR. Peterson, the superintendent of
the Insane Asylum. Atcherley did not
seem particularly interested in the
words that freed him from the COM
pany of the insane, and took it all
quite as a matter of course.
AS soon as he was asked if he was
not pleased over the outcome of the
matter he Immediately took exception
to the published statement that he was
the victim of illusions, and, while not
regarded in the light of dangerous
insane person, should be given a pc
riod of physical exercise on the reef
He reiterated the statements that
Mr.. Pinkham and DIR. Wayson have
been in a conspiracy against him, but
he said that he was more than conf
dent that he could now withstand the
attacks of all enemies.
Plenty of Law.
The attorneys who contested the is.
suance of the order giving Dr. Atcher-
ley his liberty were City and County
Attorney Cathcart, his assistant, Mr..
Milverton, and MIR. Sutton of Attorney
General Hemenway's office They
brought cartload of law tones for
ammunition, as did Attorney Magoon.
Unconstitutionality of section 1116
was the phrase in his argument that
Magoon dwelt on at length, and he
showed by numerous references to the
judgments of courts in States and other
Territories that person accused of
insanity always was judged as to men
tai deficiencies by a tribunal of never
less than two persons, one generally a
physician. Magoon conceded that in
many cases there was no need of a
hearing, there being no doubt as to
insanity.
Magoon went back to the Middle
Ages to find counterpart for what
he termed confning a perfectly sane
man to living death,
The Section 11l6 of the Revised
Laws of Hawaii reads as follows:
"The judges of the circuit and dis
trict courts shall have the power to
commit any person to the said asylum
on satisfactory complaint being
made before them that such person is
insane, and that public safety requires
his restraint until he becomes of sane
mind.''
DIR. Peterson in Quandary.
The question of n proper determine.
tion of insanity occupied a portion of
Magoon s argument and he contended
that it was beyond all reason to expect
justice when one man was empowered
to send a fellow man to the insane
asylum upon the consideration of a
complaint which the attorney referred
to as "absurd.'
DIR. Peterson was in something of a
quandary when Judge Robinson issued
the order discharging Atcherley from
custody. He asked for an order but
Judge Robinson insisted that none was
necessary, that Atcherley was in the
custody of the court when discharged
and that DR.. Peterson did not need
anything to show the termination of his
responsibility as far as the "Body of
said John Atcherley" was concerned
Cathcart and Sutton declared that the
order simply acted as an arrest of iudg
ment and this and the other problems
in the case will in all probability be
submitted to the Justices of the Su
preme Court for consideration this
morning.
WILLIAMS VS. CaStle.
In an opinion written by Chief Jus
tice Hartwell, the Supreme Court yes
terday sustained the decree of Judge
De Bolt in the case of Kahalaualoa u
Williams VS.. VIM. r. Castle, trustee
An appeal was taken from the Circuit
| Court on an order that sustained
demurrer to a petition for admeasure
ment of dover that had been entered
against Mr., Castle under the will o.
j. R. Williams by the widow of Johl
| Williams.
The opinion shows that "under
trust to pay income to the testator
wife and children and the survivor c
them and upon the death of any o
the children to his or her children; tn
estate to be divided upon the death o
the survivor of the testator's wife an
children. the widow of child dyin
during the continuance of the trust ha
no present right of dover from the trus
estate. -
The Lazarus Will.
The contest of the will of Mrs. K
Lazarus was concluded in the court O
In10a Rnhincan pacfar1ayr tha aootas