United States of America, Appellant-Cross v. Gladys Towles Root and George A. Forde, Appellees-Cross

A trial, sometimes referred to as a “search for the truth”, was held in Unit ed States District Court for the Southern District of California, Central Division, resulting in conviction of Joseph Clyde Amsler and John William Irwin for violation of several laws of the United States, one of which was 18 U.S.C. § 1201 , which section forbids the interstate transportation of a kidnap victim. This trial started on February 10 and terminated on March 7 of 1964.

The appellees, Root and Forde, were attorneys for Irwin and Amsler and represented them at the trial.

The defendants, Amsler and Irwin, testified in their defense, and it is their testimony and the source of their story that has created the necessity for this decision.

Name familiarity was of some consequence in the trial of defendants Amsler and Irwin.

Frank Sinatra, Jr. was the name of the victim the defendants were accused of kidnapping and transporting interstate, and it was the contention of the defendants Amsler and Irwin that the victim was in fact no victim at all but a willing participant in a scheme that would increase the familiarity of the name by the publicity resulting from the pseudo kidnapping.

It is to be…