Petition of United States of America for a Writ of Mandamus

A federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment charging Louis A. Baumer with willful attempt to evade and defeat income taxes for each of the years 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957. A date was fixed for trial of all counts. The defendant expressed a desire to enter a plea of nolo contendere to one count, but to no more. The government offered to dismiss two counts, but was not willing to dismiss three. The Court vacated the trial setting, accepted the plea of nolo contendere to one count, and called for a presentence report.

After reviewing and considering the presentence report the Court imposed sentence on the count to which defendant had pleaded nolo contendere, and dismissed the remaining three counts. The Court stated its reason as follows: “I am going to dismiss them in the interests of justice. The defendant has been sentenced on one count and I think that is fair, and I will just say in the interests of justice. I think he has been punished enough. They have a civil remedy, and I think that is sufficient.” The United States now seeks a writ of mandamus directing the District Court to vacate the order dismissing the three counts and to set a date for trial.

Each of the…