United States v. Wolfe

172 F. Supp. 343, 1957 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2622
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedApril 4, 1957
DocketCr. No. 34425
StatusPublished

This text of 172 F. Supp. 343 (United States v. Wolfe) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Wolfe, 172 F. Supp. 343, 1957 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2622 (E.D. Mich. 1957).

Opinion

FREEMAN, District Judge (from the bench).

At the conclusion of the testimony in this case the defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal, assigning a number of reasons in support of such motion, five of which reasons appear in a written motion, supplemented by what is now a total of eight oral reasons, one of which has just been stated on the record.

The motion was argued at some length by the defendant’s counsel for upwards of an hour and a half, and there was a short reply argument. In presenting the argument on this motion it appears to the Court that the defendant has grouped the reasons assigned in support of the motion into, you might say, five major grounds, four of which were stated by the defendant’s attorney in his summary of the argument, and one of which I think was overlooked in connection with that summary, which the Court will refer to.

The first substantial ground relied upon by the defendant in support of his motion is that the local board failed to post a list of advisors to registrants, with the names and addresses of such advisors, conspicuously in the office of [345]*345the local board, as required by Sec. 1604.-41 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

It is the contention of the defendant that the failure to post this list of ad-visors worked to the prejudice of the defendant in that he was deprived of having proper counsel and guidance in making a claim for a 4 — D classification and also for a 3-A classification.

This point has been before the courts on more than one occasion for judicial interpretation under the facts in those particular eases.

First of all, it does appear here, and the Court will find, that there was no list of advisors conspicuously posted in the cilice of the local board as required by the regulations. It certainly is not a compliance with the regulations to have the list of advisors in the office, in a book, either on a desk or in a filing cabinet, or in some other place; that is not a compliance with the regulations.

Such being the case, the question is posed as to whether or not the failure to •comply with the regulation worked to the prejudice of the defendant, under the facts and circumstances of this case. So far as this Court can recall the testimony, there is no showing on the part of the defendant that he went to the offices ■of the board after he was classified 4-D, in 1952, and prior to his classification as 1-0 in 1953, in search of information, or for any other purpose.

In the three companion cases of Row-ton, Wheeler and Stepp v. United States, decided by the 6th Circuit, and reported in 229 F.2d 421, 422, this question was considered by the court. In the opinion in that case the court said:

“The main contention of appellants on appeal to this court is that they were denied procedural due process of law, in that their local boards failed to post the names of .advisors to registrants in the local board office as required by Section 1604.41 of the Selective Service Regulations. Appellants claim that this failure invalidates the whole process •of their classification, including their orders to report for civilian work, and their subsequent prosecutions and convictions.
Nowhere in the record do appellants actually show that the failure of the local boards to post the names of advisors worked to their prejudice in any manner. Each was afforded ample opportunity to present evidence in support of his claim to exemption from service of any kind due to ministerial status; and each did so.”

And in conclusion the court said:

“The failure of the local board to post the names of advisors to registrants as required did not operate to the prejudice of these appellants. * * * They were not denied a fair and reasonable opportunity to present their claims.”

Now, obviously the mere failure to post the list of advisors in the office of the local board is not in and of itself a denial of procedural due process; and I am considering this question from that standpoint, although I do not think that exact term was used, but that is the basis upon which the defendant has asked this court to consider this point.

In essence the Court of Appeals for this Circuit has held that the registrant must show that this failure to post the list of advisors operated to his prejudice.

Examining briefly the record in this case, — and the court must consider only the record in the case, that is, I mean the record before the local board, in arriving at a decision on this motion, particularly on this point, the failure to post a list of advisors, the Court finds that there is considerable documentary proof in the Selective Service file indicating that the defendant was not without substantial knowledge as to what was required of him in order to present his claim to deferment, or his claim for a 4-D classification. As early as January 14, 1947 the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, Inc., which I will refer to as the Watchtower Society in this decision, wrote a letter to the Cassopolis-Michi-[346]*346gan Company of Jehovah’s Witnesses advising them that the defendant in this case was a Company servant. On March 21, 1947 a similar letter was written to the Cassopolis Company, of Jehovah’s Witnesses, to the effect that the defendant was then a School servant. It is not shown on the face of these documents as to just when they were filed with the local board, but I believe they were filed before the defendant was first classified.

I also find' that on September 26, 1948 the defendant procured an affidavit from Mr. Waswick, who is the defendant’s brother-in-law, a witness in this case, who was shown to be the Company Servant, of the Cassopolis branch of Jehovah’s Witnesses organization, which affidavit pointed out that the defendant was at that time the presiding minister in Cassopolis, and a ministry school instructor, and that the defendant during the time Mr. Waswick left that territory to take another assignment was assigned to take his place, and that he was properly schooled and experienced; and the affidavit contained other information.

The Court also finds in the file a further affidavit of Clarence Erkfritz, Company Servant of the Highland Park unit, dated September 20, 1948, the substance of which is that it points out to what extent the defendant is performing religious duties and the duties of a minister. Then there also appears to be another affidavit made by Mrs. Helen Grozescu of Detroit, dated September 20, 1948, and a petition signed by a large number of individuals, between 50 and 100 I would say, attesting to the fact that the defendant here has been active as a duly ordained minister of the gospel, and a representative of the Watchtower Society, and stating among other things that he has demonstrated himself to be a qualified minister, etc. That petition is without date. Presumably it was filed before the defendant was first classified.

I also find other documentary evidence in the file appearing to be announcements of meetings and programs that the defendant would address. These are without date as to year, but there is another program attached to this exhibit that bears the year 1947. So I would assume that it was possibly 1947 or 1948 that that was filed with the board.

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172 F. Supp. 343, 1957 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2622, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-wolfe-mied-1957.