Ex parte Williams, H.C. 323.
| Decision Date | 10 June 1949 |
| Docket Number | No. H.C. 323.,H.C. 323. |
| Citation | 84 F. Supp. 177 |
| Parties | Ex parte WILLIAMS. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Hawaii |
Hyman M. Greenstein, Honolulu, T. H., for petitioner.
Ray J. O'Brien United States Attorney, District of Hawaii, Howard K. Hoddick Assistant United States Attorney, District of Hawaii, Honolulu, T. H., for respondent.
On June 23, 1947, to toll the statute of limitations, Art. 61 of Articles for the Government of the Navy, 34 U.S.C.A. § 1200 Art. 61, the Secretary of the Navy ordered Louie "B" Williams, seaman first class, U. S. N. R., to stand trial before a court martial convened pursuant to the authority of the Commandant of the Potomac River Naval Command—a continuous court-martial—upon a charge and specification alleging his desertion from the Navy at Pearl Harbor on July 15, 1945.
When on August 14, 1948, Williams was discovered to have been at Pearl Harbor all of the time and to have not only lived upon the naval reservation but to have also played baseball extensively upon the Navy team under the name of Ray Williams or Raymond L. Williams, the Secretary of the Navy by a directive dated September 14, 1948, ordered the Commandant of the Fourteenth Naval District to try Williams before a court martial convened by him upon the charge and specification "heretofore preferred against him by order of the Secretary of the Navy." To this end the Secretary also modified the order for trial previously given June 23, 1947, to the Potomac River Naval Command.
On April 4, 1949, Admiral McMorris by an order directed to the Judge Advocate of his command and with specific reference to his instructions from the Secretary of the Navy ordered Williams tried upon said charge before a court martial previously convened by his authority.
When Williams was placed under arrest for trial, he was served with a copy of Admiral McMorris's April 4, 1949, order. Thereafter and before trial Williams was also given a copy of the Secretary's 1947 order for trial and of the Secretary's 1948 directive to Admiral McMorris—the document referred to by symbols in the April 4, 1949, order by Admiral McMorris.
Upon the trial the Judge Advocate read to the court, in the presence of Williams and his counsel, all of the above indicated orders, and to that of April 4, 1949, asked Williams how he plead. Williams plead not guilty, but at the conclusion of the trial was found guilty. When this petition was heard, the conviction had not been passed upon by the convening authority, but by special permission it was revealed that the court martial had found Williams guilty of the lesser offense of "unauthorized absence."
Williams alleges (1) that the court martial had no jurisdiction to try him upon the charge, for the Order for Trial was obviously not made within two years from July 15, 1945, Art. 61 supra, and (2) that his constitutional rights were infringed in that (a) the trial was a sham and his guilt predetermined, (b) the court martial failed to accept his plea in bar based upon Art. 61, (c) he was denied a speedy trial in that for three years nine months the Navy should have known he was at Pearl Harbor, (d) that the Navy made no pre-trial...
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