So Lord Mansfield decided that he would assume, without deciding, that James Somerset was indeed a legal person, and he issued the writ of habeus corpus, and James's body was brought in by the captain of the ship.
Lord Mansfield va determinar  que suposaria, sense decidir-ho del tot, que James  Somerset era, una persona legal, va publicar el mandat d'habeas corpus,  i el capità del vaixell va portar-li en James.