United States v. Jagla, Crim. No. 70-608.

• Decision Date: 23 December 1970
• Docket Number: Crim. No. 70-608.
• Citation: 330 F. Supp. 962
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. William George JAGLA, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of California

330 F. Supp. 962

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. William George JAGLA, Defendant.

Crim. No. 70-608.

United States District Court, N. D. California.

December 23, 1970.

Stephen Adams, of Adams & Adams, San Francisco, Cal., for plaintiff.

John Milano, Asst. U. S. Atty., San Francisco, Cal., for James L. Browning, Jr., U. S. Atty., for defendant.

GERALD S. LEVIN, District Judge.

Order Granting Defendant's Motion for Judgment of Acquittal

Defendant William George Jagla was indicted for refusing to submit to induction into the armed forces of the United States, in violation of 50 U.S.C. App. § 462. He has been tried to the court without a jury, and the matter stands submitted upon defendant Jagla's Motion for Judgment of Acquittal.

The essential facts are not in dispute. Jagla filed a Selective Service Form 100 (Classification Questionnaire) with his local draft board in Placerville, California, on March 7, 1969. Jagla wrote that he had been born on November 7, 1950, and had been graduated from high school in June of 1968. Jagla had not gone on to college and was then unemployed, although he said that he had prior work experience in various kinds of manual labor. Jagla did not sign that portion of Selective Service Form 100 by which he could claim conscientious objection.

Thereafter on May 21, 1969, Jagla's local board sent him a notice of his classification into Class I-A. On November 10, 1969, Jagla's local board mailed to him an Order to Report for Armed Forces Physical Examination on December 4, 1969. Jagla had moved from California to Oregon, and upon that basis requested a transfer of his physical examination to a site in Oregon. This request was granted and Jagla was mailed a new Order to Report for Armed Forces Physical Examination on January 7, 1970. Jagla was duly examined and found physically acceptable for service.

Jagla wrote an undated letter received by a draft board in Oregon on January 9, 1970, and by his own local board in California on January 14, 1970, by which he asked to apply for conscientious objector status. Two supporting letters appear in Jagla's Selective Service File which said that Jagla had been working with the "Oregon Youth Revival Center" (at "Shiloh House") since October of 1969. The letters, written respectively by a minister and the vice-president of the Center, indicated that the Center was dedicated to bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the troubled youth of the community through communal efforts.

There also appears in Jagla's Selective Service File an undated post card which reads:

This address: 745 Bellevue St. S.E., Salem, Ore., is the location of a place called Shilo. It has become a "home" for ex-drug users, etc., who are filing for C.O. status. This board hasn't heard too much about the groups (one here in Salem & one in Eugene) but if you needed or wanted additional information, you could contact Comm. Hilgers of Ore. St. Hdq. They have been collecting information on the groups for the past several months. Perhaps your headquarters would like to get some information about the groups, if they do not know of them yet. We are beginning to get fellas from other states, with same mailing address, as transfers.

Just a bit of information of you.

The post card was signed only "Margaret." There has been no evidence as to the origin of the post card, whether it was solicited by Jagla's local board, or who "Margaret" was.

On February 11, 1970, Jagla's local board received his Selective Service Form 150 (Special Form for Conscientious Objectors) by which Jagla claimed exemption from service as a conscientious objector. On February 25, 1970, Jagla was mailed a notice informing him of his right to a personal appearance and appeal, and Jagla thereupon requested such personal appearance and appeal with respect to his conscientious objector claim.

A personal appearance was conducted for Jagla on April 1, 1970. The minutes for said appearance show that Jagla was retained in Class I-A by a vote of 3-0. The summary of the personal appearance, prepared by the local board's executive secretary, reads in pertinent part:

Registrant was sworn in.

The registrant did not present any new information.

After review of the entire file and after considering registrants sic demeanor and responses to questions at the personal appearance — the board finds that the registrant is insincere.

Jagla then appealed his classification to the State Appeal Board. The State Appeal Board continued Jagla's I-A classification by a vote of 4-0. No reasons or grounds were given for its decision.

On May 22, 1970, Jagla's local board mailed him an Order to Report for Induction on May 22, 1970. Jagla reported for induction on May 22, 1970, but did there refuse to submit to induction.

Discussion

Jagla's defense rests primarily on two arguments: first, that Jagla's due process rights were violated when he was not informed of nor given an opportunity to explain or rebut the contents of the post card from "Margaret" and second, that insufficient grounds appear in his Selective Service File to provide a basis in fact for the denial of his conscientious objector claim. Although it is not certain that either of the above asserted grounds standing alone would demand an acquittal under the circumstances present here, the court does find that acquittal is required when both grounds are taken together.

The classification given Jagla by his local board can only be overturned if it is without basis in fact. Estep v. United States, 327 U.S. 114, 122, 66 S.Ct. 423, 90 L.Ed. 567 (1946). Where, as here, the registrant seeks classification as a conscientious objector, the ultimate question is his sincerity. Witmer v. United States, 348 U.S. 375, 381, 75 S.Ct. 392, 99 L.Ed. 428 (1955).

The Government concedes that Jagla has made out a prima facie case of entitlement to classification as a conscientious objector, but seeks to support the denial thereof by pointing to the statement of Jagla's local board which found him insincere because of his demeanor and responses to questions. The courts have recognized that a local board may find a registrant insincere in his beliefs because of his demeanor. United States v. Abbott, 425 F.2d 910, 913 (8th Cir. 1970); United States v. Evans, 425 F.2d 302, 305 (9th Cir. 1970); United States v. James, 417 F.2d 826, 829 (4th Cir. 1969); United States v. Corliss, 280 F.2d 808, 814 (2d Cir. 1960), cert. den., 364 U.S. 884, 81 S.Ct. 167, 5 L.Ed.2d 105 (1960). Such a finding must, however, be specific, see United States v. Coffey, 429 F.2d 401, 405 (9th Cir. 1970); United States v. Deere, 428 F.2d 1119, 1122 (2d Cir. 1970); United States v. James, supra; Hand v. Laird, 3 SSLR 3298, 3299 (N.D. Cal.1970), and cases cited therein, and must be "honest and rational." United States v. Corliss, supra; United States v. James, supra 417 F.2d at 832; United States v. Hesse, 417 F.2d 141, 144 (8th Cir. 1969); Baker v. Laird, 316 F.Supp. 1, 6 (N.D.Cal.1970); Owens v. Commanding General, 307 F.Supp. 285, 287 (N.D.Cal.1969). The court finds that the local board's statement of disbelief here was neither sufficiently detailed nor honest and rational.

Local boards are not required to document their actions with detailed findings of fact as is often required in the judicial process. Yet in order to make possible intelligent review from a decision of the board, the board must at least proffer sufficient information from which the registrant can do something in response. Where a board's denial of a requested classification rests on citation to specific facts, the registrant at least knows the nature of the evidence against him and can possibly present counter evidence. Where, on the other hand, the board rests its decision solely on disbelief of the registrant's demeanor based on an unexplained impression, intelligent...