Source: United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia
Date: 1806-12-01
Jurisdiction: United States
Citation: 17 F. Cas. 437 · 1 Cranch, C. C. 370
Opinion
DUCKETT, Circuit Judge, said that persons bom free, that is, descended from a white woman, were not, in Maryland, held to be ne-groes; and were permitted to testify against white persons. And although color is prima facie evidence of slavery, yet the fact that the witness had, for a long time, publicly acted as free, turned the presumption the other way, and was prima facie evidence that he was born of a white woman. CRANCH. Chief .Judge,, concurred. PITZHUGH, Circuit Judge, absent. See Acts Assem. Md. 1717, c. 13, § 2, and Acts 1796, c. 67, § 5.