Escape

From Bodily Harm. The ancient doctrine of the common law that the right of self-defense did not arise until every effort to escape, even to retreating until an impassable wall or something of that nature had been reached, has been supplanted in America by the doctrine that a man, if unlawfully assaulted in a place where he has a right to be, and put in danger, real or reasonably apparent, of losing his life or receiving great bodily harm, is not required to endeavor to escape from his assailant, but may stand his ground, and repel force with force, even to the taking of the life of his assailant, if necessary or in good reason apparently necessary, for the preservation of his own life or to protect himself from receiving great bodily harm. It is not necessary to the right of self-defense that a party having otherwise the right to exercise it, cannot "escape" the danger by fleeing from his assailant. 199 111. 173. Of Prisoner. The deliverance of a person, who is lawfully imprisoned, out of a prison, before such a person is entitled to such deliverance by law. 5 Mass. 310. When one who is arrested gains his liberty before he is delivered in due course of law. 107 N. C. 858. Departure of a prisoner from custody before he is discharged by due process of law. Escape takes place without force; prison breach, with violence; rescue, through the intervention of third parties. Actual Escapee. Those which take Constructive Escapes. These take place when the prisoner Obtains more liberty than the law allows, although he still remains in confinement. Bac. Abr. "Escape" (B); Plowd. 17: 5 Mass. 810; 2 Mason (U. S.) 486. This distinction obtains only as to arrest in civil actions. Negligent Escape. This takes place when the prisoner goes at large, unlawfully, either because the building or prison in which he is confined is too weak to hold him, or because the keeper, by carelessness, lets him go out of prison. Voluntary Escape. This takes place when the prisoner has given to him voluntarily any liberty not authorized by law. 5 Mass. 310; 2 N. Chip. (Vt.) 11; 25 N. H. 458.

The deliverance of a person who is lawfully imprisoned, out of prison, before such a person is entitled to such deliverance by law. Colby v. Sampson, 5 Mass. 310. The voluntarily or negligently allowing any person lawfully in confinement to leave the place. 2 Bish. Cr. L. § 917. Departure of a prisoner from custody before he is discharged by due process of law. Escape takes place without force; prisonbreach, with violence; rescue, through the intervention of third parties. Actual escapes are those which take place when the prisoner in fact gets out of prison and unlawfully regains his liberty. Constructive escapes take place when the prisoner obtains more liberty than the law allows, although he still remains in confinement. Bac. Abr. Escape (B); Plowd. 17; Colby v. Sampson, 5 Mass. 310; Steere v. Field, 2 Mas. 486, Fed. Cas. No. 13,350. Negligent escape takes place when the prisoner goes at large, unlawfully, either because the building or prison in which he is confined is too weak to hold him, or because the keeper by carelessness lets him go out of prison. Voluntary escape takes place when the prisoner has given to him voluntarily any liberty not authorized by law. Colby v. Sampson, 5 Mass. 310; Lowry v. Barney, 2 D. Chip. (Vt.) 11. When a man is imprisoned in a proper place under the process of a court having jurisdiction in the case, he is lawfully imprisoned, notwithstanding the proceedings may be irregular; 1 Crawf. & D. 203; see Com. v. Barker, 133 Mass. 399; but if the court has not jurisdiction the imprisonment is unlawful, whether the process be regular or otherwise. Bacon, Abr. Escape in Civil Cases (A 1); Scott v. Shaw, 13 Johns. (N. Y.) 378; Ontario Bank v. Hallett, 8 Cow. (N. Y.) 192; Austin v. Fitch, 1 Root (Conn.) 288. See State v. Leach, 7 Conn. 452, 18 Am. Dec. 113. shortest, time, is an escape, although he afterwards return; 2 W. Bla. 1048; Browning's Kx'r v. Kittenhouse, 40 N. J. L. 230; Servis v. Marsh, 38 Fed. 794; De Grand v. Hunnewell, 11 Mass. 1G0; and this may be (as in the case of imprisonment under a ca..set although an officer may accompany him; 3 Co. 44 a; 1 B. & P. 24. Where an Insolvent debtor whose discharge has been refused by the court, surrenders himself to the keeper of a prison, who will not receive him because he has no writ or record showing that he is an insolvent debtor and is not in charge of an ollicer, the surrender is not sufficient to make the keeper liable for the debt in case of the debtor's escape: Saunders v. Perkins, 140 Pa. 102, 21 Atl. 257. In criminal cases, the prisoner is indictable for a misdemeanor, whether the escape be negligent or voluntary; 2 Hawk. PI. C. 189; Cro. Car. 209; State v. Doud, 7 Conn. 384; State v. Brown. S2 N. C. 585; and the officer is also indictable; Martin v. State, 32 Ark. 124; State v. Ritchie, 107 N. C. 857, 12 S. B. 251. If the offence of the prisoner was a felony, a voluntary escape is a felony on the part of the officer; 2 Hawk. PL C. c. 19, S 25; if negligent, it is a misdemeanor only in any case; 2 Bish. Cr. L. § 925. See State v. Sparks, 78 Ind. 1GG. It is the duty of the officer to rearrest after an escape; Clark v. Cleveland, 0 Hill (N. Y.) 344; People v. Hanchett, 111 111. 90; 1 Russ. Cr. 572.. In civil cases, a prisoner may be arrested who escapes from custody on mesne process, and the officer will not be liable if he rearrest him; Cro. Jac. 419; but if the escape be voluntary from imprisonment on mesne process, and in any case if the escape be from final process, the officer is liable in damages to the plaintiff, and is not excused by retaking the prisoner; 2 B. & A..',<;; Doane v. Baker, 6 Allen (Mass.) 260. Nothing but an act of God or the enemies of the country will excuse an escape. Fairchild v. Case, 24 Wend. (N. Y.) 381; Rainey's Ex'rs v. Dunning. 6 N. C. 386; Shattuek v. State, 51 Miss. 575. See Lash v. Ziglar, 27 N. C. 702; Shuler v. Garrison, 5 W. & S. (Pa.) 455. Attempts to escape by one accused of crime are presumptive of guilt, and the conduct of a defendant in arrest, either hefore or after being accused of the crime, may be competent evidence against him, as indicating a guilty mind; Bowles v. State, 5S Ala. 335; People v. Stanley, 47 Cal. 113, 17 Am. Rep. 401. Where a prisoner being in the corridor of a jail unlocks a door between the corridor and a cell, and thence escapes, he commits prison breach; Randall v. State, 53

The departure or deliverance out of custody of a person who was lawfully imprisoned, before he is entitled to his liberty by the process of law. The voluntarily or negligently allowing any person lawfully in confinement to leave the place. 2 Bish. Crim. Law, § 917. Escapes are either voluntary or negligent. The former is the case when the keeper voluntarily concedes to the prisoner any liberty not authorised by law. The latter is the case when the prisoner contrives to leave his prison by forcing his way out, or any other means, without the knowledge or against the will of the keeper, but through the latter's carelessness or the insecurity of the building. Cortis v. Dailey, 21 App. Div. 1, 47 N. Y. Supp. 454; Lansing v. Fleet, 2 Johns. Cas. (N. Y.) 3, 1 Am. Dec. 142; Atkinson v. Jameson, 5 Term, 25; Butler v. Washburn, 25 N. H. 258; Martin v. State, 32 Ark. 124; Adams v. Turrentine, 30 N. C. 147.

— Escape warrant. In English practice. This was a warrant granted to retake a prisoner 'committed to the custody of the king's prison who had escaped therefrom. It was obtained on affidavit from the judge of the court in which the action had been brought, and was directed to all the sheriffs throughout England, commanding them to retake the prisoner and commit him to gaol when and where taken, there to remain until the debt was satisfied. Jacob; Brown.

An escape of a person from lawful arrest or imprisonment, whether violent pr secured through collusion; whether negligent, that is, without the knowledge or consent of the ofl Scer, or voluntary, that is, by the officer permitted.

In English law. Escape warrant: a warrant directed to all sherifl Es, etc., throughout England, commanding them to arrest a person escaped from imprisonment on mesne process or on execution.

7 1, n. (1) Flight from custody, of a person under lawful arrest. * Cohens v. Virginia, ante, 2 Slaughter-House Cases, 10 Wall. 290 (1869), cases; Kountz V. Omaha Hotfel Co., 107 U. S. 381-85 (1882); Murdock v. City of Memphis, 20 Wall. 621 (1876). 3 6 Wheat. 409-11, ante; 20 How. 437; 16 Wall. 363, 386; 100U. S. 690. < Pontius V. Nesbit, 40 Pa. 310 (1861). » Burkholder v. Stahl, 68 Pa. 376 (1868), Thompson, C. J.; Bragg v. Danielson, 141 Mass. 195 (1886). • 4 Bl. Com. 391; 4 Burr. 2550. See also 3 Ball. 327; 7 Cranch, 111; 61 Ala. 484; 3 Col. 293; 6 Fla. 289; 13 Ga. 148; 20 id. 535; 1 Wash. T. 319. 'F. escaper, to slip out of one's cape: L. excappa,— (2) Allowing any person lawfully in conflnement to leave ihe place, i Actual escape. Complete corporal freedom. Constructive escape. Any unauthorized relaxation of custody. Neg Kgent escape. Effected without the keeper's knowledge or consent. Voluntary escape. Expressly consented to by the keeper. 2 Any liberty given for the briefest period, and not sanctioned by law, is tin escape. But the court must have had jurisdiction, the process have been regular,.and the place and time proper. At common law an escape is a misdemeanor in the prisoner; and, if the offense is a felony, a volmitary escape is a like felony, and a negligent escape is a misdemeanor, in the officer. An escape resulting from an act of God or of the public enemy will be excused.^ Formerly, when imprisonment was the only mode to enforce satisfaction of a judgment for money, to permit an escape was to lose the amount of the debt. Hence, on an escape, the sheriff was held for the whole debt.* An officer of the United States who voluntarily suffers a prisoner in custody under the law of the United States to escape shall be fined not more than two thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.* 3, V. To be passed by unobserved; to be overlooked. " To escape taxation " does not mean tb be taxed insufficiently, but to have avoided notice, to be passed unobserved, to have evaded taxation.* 3, n. Means of retreat. See Defekse, 1; Fire, Escape.

An escape from lawful arrest or imprisonment, whether violent or by collusion, negligent or voluntary.

[L. Lat. escapium, eschapium, from L. Fr. eschaper, escapper; Lat. ^ffugercy to fly from.] In practice. A violent or privy evasion out of some lawful restraint. Cowell. — The gaining one's liberty after being arrested or imprisoned, before being delivered by course of law. 4 Steph. Com. 264. Termes de la ley. Any liberty given to a prisoner not authorized by law. 6 Mass. R. 310. An escape from arrest under civil process is either negligent or voluntary; negligent, where the party escapes, vrithout the knowledge or consent of the sheriff or his ofl Scer; voluntary, where the sheriff or his officer permits him to go at large. 3 Bl. Com, 416. 1 Archb. Fr. 85. Sewel Vs Sheriff, 441. If a defendant, having been once taken in execution, be afterwards seen at large for any, the shortest time, even before the return of the writ, it is an escape, unless it be by consent of the plaintiff himself, given previously to, or at the time of the discharge, founded on a good consideration, or under the authority of a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum, or where the defendant has been discharged under an insolvent act. 8 Johnson* s R. 472. 10 Id. 220. 16 Id. 181. 18 Id. 48. 1 Salh. 271. 1 Show. 174. 3 Wendel Vs R. 184. 1 Burr, Fr. 312. U. S. Digest db Supplement, Escape. The escape of a person lawfully arrested for crime is itself a crime punishable by fine and imprisonment. 4 Steph. Com. 254. See Wharton* s Am. Crim. Law, 561. Lewis* U. S. Crim. Law^ 241, et seq.

An escape is the deliverance of a person out of prison, who is lawfully imprisoned, before such person is entitled to such deliverance by law. Escapes are either negligent or voluntary, in civil or criminal cases. It is not necessary that the party should be held in actual imprisonnrent within a gaol; if he be in custody of a proper officer he may escape as much as if he were in prison. 3 Bl. Com. 290, 415; 1 Hal. P. C. 590; 2 Hawk. P. C. 134; 4 BI. Com. 180. The prisoner’s being out of prison for any or the shortest time, is an escape, although he afterwards. return. 2 Bl. Rep. 1048; 1 Rolle’s Abr. 806; and though he has a keeper with him, 3 Co. 44a; Plowd. Com. 37; Hob. 202; 1 Bos. & Pull. 24; 2 Bi. R. 1048. See also 5 Mass. R. 310; 7 Mass. R. 98; 4 Mass. R. 391; 2 Mass. R. 549; 9 Johns. ’R. 329; 13 Johns. K: 366; 9 Johns. R. 146; 5 Johns. R. 115; 15 Johns. R. 152; 3 Binn. R. 404; 13 Johns. R. 503; 6 Johns. R. 62; 10 Johns. R. 14 Johns. R. 10 Johns. R. 420; 18 Johns. R. 48; Com. Dig. Escape, C; Bac. Abr. Escape; Vin. Abr. Escape.