William Henry Hastie Jr.

How Judge Hastie rules, drawn from 6 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Judge Hastie no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.

Court
District Court of the Virgin Islands
Position
territorial_district
Status
Retired 1939
Served
1937–1939
Appointed by
Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democratic)
Commissioned
1937-03-26
Education
Amherst College (A.B., 1925); Harvard Law School (LL.B., 1930); Harvard Law School (S.J.D., 1933)
Signed orders read
6

How Judge Hastie decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

What persuades

A criminal charge could not be extended beyond the text of a strictly construed local statute.

“criminal statutes generally are to be construed strictly.”

A voluntary merits appearance waived a defect in the time allowed by process.

“His appearance was a voluntary appearance, and serves as a waiver of any such defect in process as appears in this case.”

Procedural preferences

A court reviewing a local criminal judgment required an actual lawful trial and judgment before appellate jurisdiction could attach.

“there has been no legal trial and no effective judgment of the Police Court upon which an appeal can be based.”

An executor’s discretionary power of sale required the combined and unanimous judgment specified by the will.

“the testatrix reliéd upon the combined and unanimous judgment of all three executors”

Cautions

A new trial was unavailable absent prejudicial error after the court corrected a potentially misleading summation before the jury.

“The record reveals no prejudicial error”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

In re Estate of LaBeet
· 1937-11-02
Petition for instructions (executor) Granted

“the executors will be and are instructed to prepare and present a formal adjudication *397consistent with their petition for final distribution”

People v. Henley
· 1937-11-23
Motion to dismiss information (defendant) Granted

“The motion will be granted and the information dismissed accordingly.”

People v. Davis
· 1938-03-28
Criminal appeal (appellant) Granted

“An order will be entered declaring the judgment of the Police Court void, ordering the discharge of the defendant and exonerating his sureties.”

Chase v. African Methodist Episcopal Church, Inc.
· 1938-04-12
Demurrer (defendant) Denied

“The demurrer is accordingly overruled.”

People v. Caines
· 1938-05-07
Motion for new trial (defendant) Denied

“the motion for a new trial must, therefore, be denied.”

Hector v. Peters
· 1938-08-04
Writ of review (plaintiff) Granted

“the order setting aside the judgment must be reversed.”

Rivera de Gimenez v. Curran
· 1937-05-27

The court resolved a trial, submitted merits, affirmative-defense, foreclosure, or interlocutory issue without a separable party-motion outcome.

Nielsen v. Nielsen
· 1937-10-18

The court resolved a trial, submitted merits, affirmative-defense, foreclosure, or interlocutory issue without a separable party-motion outcome.

Christian v. Christian
· 1937-11-29

The court resolved a trial, submitted merits, affirmative-defense, foreclosure, or interlocutory issue without a separable party-motion outcome.

Petrus v. Golden
· 1938-05-10

The court resolved a trial, submitted merits, affirmative-defense, foreclosure, or interlocutory issue without a separable party-motion outcome.

Prince v. Duvergee
· 1938-06-13

The court resolved a trial, submitted merits, affirmative-defense, foreclosure, or interlocutory issue without a separable party-motion outcome.

Thompson v. Thompson
· 1938-08-09

The court resolved a trial, submitted merits, affirmative-defense, foreclosure, or interlocutory issue without a separable party-motion outcome.

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

The reviewed decisions include local criminal appeals, estates, divorce, property, foreclosure, and civil procedure. No electronic records are available to quantify the tenure.

A historical record

Judge Hastie no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.