Bingham v. Bradley

Background

A man in U.S. custody was accused by Canadian authorities of receiving and passing stolen Bank of Montreal bills after a large 1911 burglary in British Columbia. Canadian police affidavits say many identified $5 bills were traced to transactions in Montreal in February 1915, including purchases and exchanges involving the accused and an associate, who then traveled to Chicago and tried to exchange more bills there. A U.S. Commissioner held a hearing, received the Canadian papers and local testimony, and issued a commitment for extradition.

Reasoning

The Court considered whether the evidence and documents were enough to justify holding the man for surrender to Canada. It found the treaty between the United States and Great Britain (covering Canada) makes receiving stolen money an extraditable offense, and the Commissioner reasonably inferred from possession and the surrounding circumstances that the accused received the bills in Canada with guilty knowledge. The Court also held that authenticated Canadian affidavits and complaints taken without the accused present were admissible under U.S. statute and the treaty, and that the Commissioner had lawful authority to act on this evidence.

Real world impact

Because the magistrate’s finding was based on competent and adequate evidence, the U.S. courts will not overturn the detention on habeas review, and the man may be surrendered to Canadian authorities. The decision affirms that properly authenticated foreign affidavits can support extradition hearings and that routine extradition procedures will proceed when treaty conditions are met.