United States V Holmes - summary PDF

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UNITED STATES V HOLMES (1842)

SUMMARY OF THE CASE The American ship William Brown had on board a heavy cargo, 17 crews and 65 passengers. The ship left Liverpool on 13th March 1841 to Philadelphia, US. Around 10 o’clock on the night, the ship hit an iceberg and began to sink rapidly. The captain, eight seamen and only one passenger got into the jolly-boat while nine seamen and thirty two passengers got into the longboat. The remainder of the passenger was left to remain on the sinking ship. The longboat began to leak and the passengers were able to bailing out the water as much as they could and keep the boat afloat. However, the longboat was very crowded and the weight of the passengers and the rain make it even worse. The mate ordering the crews to throw some of the passengers fearing that the boat would sink. 16 passengers were thrown overboard. The passengers which left on the boat were all rescued on the next wednesday morning. Several passengers who survived filed a complaint with the district attorney against the crew. The only crew in the city of Philadelphia then was Holmes. He was arrested and charged with the murder. Holmes’s lawyer, Brown argued that under such circumstances, the acts were a necessity for self-preservation however the defence was rejected.

PRINCIPLE 1. The circumstances in the case does not fall under necessity unless all the ordinary means of self-preservation have been exhausted 2. The menace must be instant, overwhelming, having no other alternative but to lose our own life or to take the life of another person. 3. No one has the right to take another’s life to preserve his own life....