Forest James Ackerman v. United States

On March 16, 1960, the.Grand Jury for the Southern District of California returned a five-count indictment against the appellant, charging in counts 1 through 5, respectively, that appellant on five separate occasions mailed letters which were obscene, lewd, indecent, lascivious and filthy in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1461 .

Upon plea of not guilty, appellant waived trial by jury and requested the Court to decide the issues involved upon the basis of a stipulation of facts.

The Court on October 4,1960, upon the stipulated facts and the briefs of both parties, found appellant guilty as charged and subsequently imposed a fine of $50 on each count of the indictment.

The jurisdiction of the District Court was based upon Title 18, United States Code, Section 3231 and Title 18, United States Code, Section 1461 . Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal and jurisdiction of this Court is predicated upon Title 28, United States Code, Sections 1291 and 1294.

The Stipulation of Facts sets forth that from May through October, 1958, appellant Ackerman sent five letters to one R. W. Hearn; that, if called as a witness, said R. W. Hearn would testify that he…