United States v. Stuart Alan Wilbur

Wilbur was found guilty by a jury of refusal to submit to induction in the armed forces, 50 U.S.C. App. § 462. He appeals from his conviction raising a number of alleged errors committed by the selective service system and the trial court. Three contentions merit written consideration:

(1) Wilbur was improperly denied a mandatory educational deferment;

(2) Wilbur’s local board failed to forward a statement of Wilbur’s emotional condition for consideration by the Armed Forces examining center;

(3) The local board refused to grant a requested personal appearance.

Consideration of these contentions will be aided by knowledge of Wilbur’s relevant dealings with the Selective Service. Wilbur was at all times a registrant under the jurisdiction of Local Board 117 at Gardena, California. All the notices to him, hereafter referred to, came from Local Board 117. On March 8, 1967 Wilbur was classified I-A after his local board learned that he had not enrolled for the winter quarter at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). On July 18, 1967, he was ordered to report for a pre-induction physical on August 4, 1967. On July 31, 1967, the Board received a letter from a certified…