Lowe

In the District Court for the Territory of Alaska, an information against appellant was filed on May 7, 1953. The information was as follows:

Appellant moved to dismiss the information. The motion was denied. Appellant pleaded not guilty, was tried, convicted and sentenced and has appealed. The question presented is whether the information charged an offense.

As indicated above, the information stated, in substance, that appellant unlawfully and in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. § 1701 obstructed the passage of mail by withholding and refusing to return to the post office at Fairbanks or to a duly authorized agent of the Post Office Department the package mentioned in the information. That, however, was a mere statement of a conclusion of law. The information stated no fact or facts warranting the conclusion. It appeared from the information that the package was addressed to Mrs. Eva Rodgers, but it did not appear that the package was mailed to Mrs. Rodgers or anyone else. It appeared from the information that the package was delivered to appellant’s address, but it did not appear that the package was delivered by mail, or that it was ever in the mail, or that it ever constituted mail…