Silvestrie C. Mafnas v. The Government of Guam

Mafnas appeals from a judgment and sentence of the District Court of Guam based upon an information charging him of involuntary manslaughter, a crime created by Congress in its provision in Section 25(a) of the Guam Organic Act, 64 Stat. 384 , 390-391, 48 U.S.C.A. §, 1421c(a).

Hence it is a law of the United States within Section 22(a) of the Organic Act, 48 U.S.C.A. § 1424 (a), providing:

Mafnas’ crime was committed on July 25, 1954. He was neither indicted nor tried by jury. On the date of the commission of his crime it is elementary that the “laws of the United States” required indictment and trial by jury in “a court of the United States” in such an offense and there was no contrary provision of the Guam laws.

One of Mafnas’ contentions is that since the Guam court of the United States has the same powers as a United States District Court in the continental United States, cf. International Longshoremen’s & W. Union v. Juneau Spruce Corp., 9 Cir., 189 F.2d 177, 185 , he was entitled to the right to indictment and to trial by jury and was denied these rights in a proceeding based on an information.

With regard to jury trials, the law of Guam at the time of the enactment of…