JOHN J. O'MARA

JULY 7, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed

Mr. DENTON, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 1631]

The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 1631) for the relief of John J. O'Mara, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

The purpose of the proposed legislation is to pay the sum of $1,000 to John J. O'Mara, Dublin, Eire. The payment of such sum shall be in full settlement of all claims of the said John J. O'Mara against the United States arising from an attack made upon him in Dublin on January 27, 1944, by a citizen of the United States who was under prison sentence as the result of a general court martial and who had escaped from the custody of the United States Army.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

On October 1, 1943, while serving in the United States Army and stationed in England, Private William Nolan was convicted by a general court martial of larceny, robbery, and other offenses, and was sentenced to dishonorable discharge and to confinement to hard labor for a period of 20 years. On October 13, 1943, the sentence was approved by the reviewing authority and ordered executed. On October 24, 1943, Noland escaped from custody and made his way to Eire. On January 27, 1944, he held up and stabbed John J. O'Mara, a citizen of Eire, in Upper Dominick Street, Dublin, Eire. Nolan was subsequently arrested, taken to the North Ireland border, and turned over to the Royal Ulster Constabulary who returned him to the custody of the United States military authorities. He is now confined at the United States Penitentiary. Lewisburg, Pa., and has admitted the attack upon Mr. O'Mara.

The Department of the Army in its report states that it is a wellestablished principle of law that the United States is not responsible for the actions of its officers, agents, or employees while they are acting outside the scope of their employment and that it is not an insurer against criminal acts committed by such persons. Moreover, as has already been noted, at the time of his attack on Mr. O'Mara, Nolan was no longer a member of the armed forces of the United States, but was a general prisoner and, accordingly, he was neither an officer, agent, nor employee of the United States. However, the act of January 2, 1942, was specifically intended to promote and maintain friendly relations with the inhabitants of allied and neutral countries and, except for the fact that the dishonorable discharge had been ordered executed instead of being suspended pending the completion of the term of imprisonment, Mr. O'Mara's claim would, undoubtedly, have received favorable consideration from a foreign claims commission. The proposed award of $1,000 appears to be fair and reasonable. Accordingly, in the interest of furthering the purpose which motivated the enactment of the act of January 2, 1942, the Department of the Army believes that relief may properly be granted in this case. The Department, therefore, has no objection to the enactment of this bill. Therefore, your committee recommends favorable consideration to the bill.

Hon. EARL C. MICHENER,

Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, Washington, D. C., October 20, 1948.

House of Representatives.

DEAR MR. MICHENER: The Department of the Army has no objection to the enactment of H. R. 7029, Eightieth Congress, a bill for the relief of John J O'Mara. This bill provides as follows:

"That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to pay, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to John J. O'Mara, Dublin, Eire, the sum of $1,000. The payment of such sum shall be in full settlement of all claims of the said John J. O'Mara against the United States arising from an attack made upon him in Dublin on January 27, 1944, by a citizen of the United States who was under prison sentence as the result of a general court martial and who had escaped from the custody of the United States Army."

On
On

On October 1, 1943, while serving in the United States Army and stationed in England, Pvt. William Nolan was convicted by a general court martial of larceny, robbery, and other offenses, and was sentenced to dishonorable discharge and to confinement at hard labor for a period of 20 years. On October 13, 1943. the sentence was approved by the reviewing authority and ordered executed. October 24, 1943, Nolan escaped from custody and made his way to Eire. January 27, 1944, he held up and stabbed John J. O'Mara, a citizen of Eire, in Upper Dominick Street, Dublin, Eire Nolan was subsequently arrested, taken to the North Ireland border, and turned over to the Royal Ulster Constabulary who returned him to the custody of the United States military authorities. He is now confined at the United States Penitentiary. Lewisburg, Pa., and has admitted the attack upon Mr. O'Mara

It appears that immediately after he was wounde ir. O'Mara was treated by the Jervis Street Hospital in Dublin. Dr. Desmond M. O'Hanlon, who attended him there, made the following statement concerning Mr. O'Mara's wounds:

66* * I found two linear wounds-one situated on the lateral aspect of the arm just below the shoulder, approximately 1 inch long and about a quarter inch wide, and the other situated on the antrolateral aspect of the arm immediately above the elbow joint and approximately 2 inches long and gaping widely. Both wounds were bleeding profusely, were of a nasty character and appeared to be deep. I ordered the operating theater to be got ready and while this was being done first aid was administered to relieve shock and stop bleeding. I then

assisted to take the patient to the theater where I administered a local anesthetic and made a detailed examination. I searched the wounds for foreign matter which might have been carried in, excised the wounds, ligatured the bleeding vessels, packed wounds with sulphonamide powder and then sutured the wounds with silkworm gut. My recollections is that the larger wound required five sutures and the smaller wound two sutures. I then dressed the wounds and administered 1,000 units of antitetanus serum.

* *

Dr. M. S. Walsh, who also treated Mr. O'Mara, made the following statement: "* * * I first examined the most serious of the wounds those on the left arm. One was about an inch long and penetrated into the deltoid muscle and had already been sutured. The other extended obliquely across the biceps and was about 2 inches in length. It too had been penetrated the muscle and had been sutured with five sutures. The wound on the right shoulder was superficial, one on the back was also superficial as was also one on the point of the left shoulder.

"I dressed the wounds and as Mr. OMara was in a very nervous condition I ordered complete rest in bed. The wound on the left arm, the larger of the two, showed signs of extravasated blood on Thursday, 3d February, and I removed two stiches to facilitate its getting out. A considerable quantity exuded and I applied a dressing. On Saturday, 5th February, I removed all stitches and applied suitable dressings to protect the scars whilst knitting.

"I attended Mr. O'Mara altogether for 4 weeks before I could safely allow him to resume his duties. He had gone through a nerve-wracking ordeal and has suffered considerable loss of blood. He suffered from shock and insomnia during the first couple of weeks, after which his convalescence was uneventful.”

It appears that Mr. O'Mara's medical and other expenses in connection with the injuries sustained by him amounted to slightly over $200.

On January 9, 1945, the Irish Legation, Washington, D. C., presented to the Secretary of State an aide-memoire concerning this matter and advising of Mr. O'Mara's desire to make a claim against the United States for the injuries sustained by him. The act of January 2, 1942 (57 Stat. 66), as amended, provides that "for the purpose of promoting and maintaining friendly relations by the prompt settlement of meritorious claims," claims commissions appointed by the Secretary of War (now Secretary of the Army) or the Secretary of the Navy, as the case may be, are authorized to consider, ascertain, adjust, determine, and make payment on account of damage to or loss or destruction of property or on account of personal injury or death of inhabitants of a foreign country arising in such foreign country "when such damage, loss, destruction, or injury is caused by Army, Navy. or Marine Corps forces or individual members thereof, including military personnel and civilian employees thereof, or otherwise incident to noncombat activities of such forces. Since, at the time of the assault, Nolan had been dishonorably discharged from the Army of the United States, it was determined that he was not then a member of the armed forces of the United States, and that, accordingly, any claim arising from his assault on Mr. O'Mara could not be settled under the act of January 2, 1942, supra, as amended, nor under any other statute available to the War Department (now Department of the Army) for the settlement of claims. The Secretary of State was advised of the foregoing and it is assumed that he so advised the Irish Legation.

It is a well-established principle of law that the United States is not responsible for the actions of its officers, agents, or employees while they are acting outside the scope of their employment and that it is not an insurer against criminal acts committed by such persons. Moreover, as has already been noted, at the time of his attack on Mr. O'Mara, Nolan was no longer a member of the armed forces of the United States, but was a general prisoner and, accordingly, he was neither an officer, agent, nor employee of the United States. However, the act of January 2. 1942, supra, was specifically intended to promote and maintain friendly relations with the inhabitants of allied and neutral countries and, except for the fact that the dishonorable discharge had been ordered executed instead of being suspended pending the completion of the term of imprisonment, Mr. O'Mara's claim would, undoubtedly, have received favorable consideration from a Foreign Claims Commission. The proposed award of $1,000 provided in H. R. 7029 appears to be fair and reasonable. Accordingly, in the interest of furthering the purpose which motivated the enactment of the act of January 2, 1942, supra,

case.

the Department of the Army believes that relief may properly be granted in this The Department, therefore, has no objection to the enactment of this bill. The Bureau of the Budget advises that there is no objection to the submission of this report.

Sincerely yours,

KENNETH C. ROYALL,

Secretary of the Army.

IRISH LEGATION,
Washington, D. C.

PARTICULARS OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN REGARD TO THE CLAIM OF JOHN JOSEPH O'MARA FOR COMPENSATION IN RESPECT OF INJURIES SUFFERED BY HIM AT THE HANDS OF WILLIAM NOLAN, ALIAS DALE J. Carr, a MEMBER OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

On January 27, 1944, Mr. John Joseph O'Mara, a draftsman attached to the engineering branch of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, was seriously injured as a result of a violent assault made on him in Upper Dominick Street, Dublin, by one William Nolan, alias Dale J. Carr, an American soldier who had escaped from custody in England and had made his way to Ireland. Nolan was arrested and a deportation order issued against him; he was conveyed to the border, and handed over to the Royal Ulster Constabulary on February 2, 1944. 2. Mr. O'Mara's solicitors, Messrs, Mangan and Hughes, Caledonian Chambers, 31 Dame Street, Dublin, wrote to the American Legation in Ireland regarding the injuries inflicted on their client and the American Minister suggested in his reply that any claim for compensation should be presented in Washington through this Legation.

3. Messrs. Mangan and Hughes have submitted a detailed claim, of which a copy is attached, for £51.7.0 on behalf of their client in respect of medical, legal costs, etc. They state that in addition he is claiming £150 to cover pain and suffering. Copies are also enclosed of the following medical reports:

(1) Report dated April 25, from Mr. Desmond O'Hanlon, the surgeon on duty at Jervis Street Hospital, Dublin, on the night of the incident.

(2) Report dated April 28, from Dr. M. S. Walsh.

(3) Report dated May 22, from Dr. M. S. Walsh.

4. The Department of Posts and Telegraphs also wish to make a claim in their case for the loss of the injured officer's services. Mr. O'Mara was absent from duty from January 28 to February 24, inclusive, medically certified as suffering from debility due to shock and hemorrhage as a result of his injuries, and during the period of incapacity he received full pay, amounting in all to £26.7.4. In this connection it is desired to state that in the case of a civil servant incapacitated by assault, the state always makes a claim for the loss of the injured officer's services. The Solicitor to the Post Office has advised that in the present case, the Department of Posts and Telegraphs' claim would consequently be made against the American Government.

5. The Garda Siochana have ascertained that Nolan had been sentenced in England by a general court martial on October 13, 1943, to dishonorable discharge and 20 years confinement, with hard labor, for robbery, assault, larceny, escape from confinement, resisting arrest and concealing venereal disease. He escaped from confinement on October 24, 1943, and was at large until his arrest in Dublin. Nolan was not charged before any court in Ireland in respect of the offenses committed in Dublin. It was not considered desirable that the matter should receive publicity, and after consultation between the Department of Justice and the Department of External Affairs a deportation order was issued against him. He was conveyed to the border on February 2 and handed over to the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Presumably he is at present in some American military prison in either Great Britain or in the United States.

6. Mr. O'Mara's solicitors were desirous of making a formal claim on behalf of their client on legal grounds but, in order to avoid undesirable publicity which would come about by such action, the Irish Government thought it preferable to submit the matter in this manner.