Shafer

The parties hereto will be designated plaintiff and defendants as in the court below. The plaintiff brought an action against the defendants to recover damages for false imprisonment. The defendant Shafer was the city marshal of the town of Douglas, Alaska, and the defendant Henson was the city magistrate. During the progress of the trial the court directed a non-suit as to Henson, and at the close of the evidence instructed the jury to return a verdict for the defendant Shafer. The court was clearly in error in both rulings.

The plaintiff and the defendant Shafer engaged in a personal altercation and fist fight on a street in 'Douglas. Bystanders separated them, and thereupon Shafer drew his revolver and told the plaintiff that he was under arrest. He took the plaintiff to the jail, and without lodging a complaint against him, or taking him before the magistrate, he confined him in jail, where the plaintiff remained from 1 o’clock in the afternoon until 10 o’clock the following morning, when he was brought into the courtroom, and Henson, the magistrate, made out a complaint. Henson testified that he made up his mind that the case was not strong enough to be prosecuted on the…