United States v. John Stevens Lawton

Lawton, convicted for his refusal to submit to induction in violation of 50 U.S.C. App. § 462, appeals from the judgment of conviction. We affirm.

Lawton first contends that he was deprived of an opportunity adequately to prepare a defense based upon order of call due to the fact that the prosecutor did not, until six days before the date set for trial, comply with a discovery order to produce delivery lists. This argument is without merit. The delivery lists were not available from Lawton’s local Board because the Board’s procedure was to destroy them after the year of use. It therefore took a longer time to secure the lists from the State Director’s Office. As soon as the prosecutor obtained the lists, he furnished defense counsel with a copy. Moreover, the district judge granted a week’s continuance in order to afford defense counsel adequate additional time for preparation. Under these facts, Lawton has shown no prejudice.

Lawton’s second contention is that he was entitled to have his case reopened after he wrote his local Board, stating a desire to claim conscientious objector status and requesting the standard Form 150. The letter alone did not constitute such a prima…