Citations
- 175 F. Supp. 60
Full opinion text
HALL, District Judge.
On March 4, 1959, an Indictment was returned in this District charging that on or about June 10, 1949, within this District and Division, and in a place under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States known as Branch United States Disciplinary Barracks, Camp Cooke, California, defendants murdered one Charlie W. Taylor, Jr.
The defendants have filed a Motion to dismiss the Indictment.
While the Motion to dismiss is based on five separately-stated grounds, all of them turn upon the charge that the defendants, and each of them, have been denied a speedy trial as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States in that, through no fault of the defendants, ten years have elapsed since the date of the commission of the offense and the date of the Indictment.
The Motion to dismiss was a speaking motion in that at the hearing, all of the records of the court-martial proceedings of these defendants, which resulted in their conviction, were introduced in evidence.
Before proceeding with a discussion and decision of the points of law raised, it is necessary to briefly give a review of undisputed facts.
On June 10, 1949, Charlie W. Taylor, Jr., then confined as a Military prisoner at Camp Cooke, met his death as a result of force and violence. The four defendants named herein were likewise Military prisoners at the same Camp, and were on August 12, 1949, charged with the murder of Taylor before a Military court-martial, tried, convicted, and given the death penalty which was later commuted.
Thereafter, John Lee, one of the defendants, filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, which was ordered granted by the Supreme Court on January 12, 1959 [Lee v. Madigan, 358 U.S. 228, 79 S.Ct. 276, 3 L.Ed.2d 260] on the ground that the Military had no jurisdiction under Section 92 of the Articles of War (10 U.S.C. § 1564) in force in 1949, in that the offense charged was •committed “in time of peace.”
The formal charge in the court-martial proceeding was filed on August 12, 1949. Preceding that, however, the records reflect that on June 23, 1949, one Robert T. Frederick, Major General, U. :S. Army Commanding, Headquarters Fort Ord, California, in a communication to The Adjutant General, Department of the Army, Washington, D. C., reported the incident, and recommended:
“5. The facts set forth in Paragraph 2, supra, and the inclosures attached hereto, compel the conclusion that those responsible for the death of General Prisoner Charlie W. Taylor, Jr., should be tried for murder.
“6. Since Article of War 92 prohibits the trial of individuals con•cerned for the crime of murder by •General Court-Martial, it is recommended that action be taken to effect the transfer of the transfer of jurisdiction to the proper federal authorities.” (Emphasis supplied.)