Burns et al. v. Wilson, Secretary of Defense, et al. (346 U.S. 137)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 15, 1953 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 346 U.S. 137 · 73 S. Ct. 1045
- Decided
- June 15, 1953
- Term
- October Term 1952
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Vinson
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Chief Justice Vinson announced the judgment of the Court in an opinion in which Mr. Justice Reed, Mr. Justice Burton and Mr. Justice Clark join. Tried separately by Air Force courts-martial on the Island of Guam, petitioners were found guilty of murder and rape and sentenced to death. The sentences were confirmed by the President, and petitioners exhausted all remedies available to them under the Articles of War for review of their convictions by the military tribunals. They then filed petitions for writs of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. In these applications petitioners alleged that they had been denied due process of law in the proceedings which led to their conviction by the courts-martial. They charged that they had been subjected to illegal detention; that coerced confessions had been extorted from them; that they had been denied counsel of their choice and denied effective representation; that the military authorities on Guam had suppressed evidence favorable to them, procured perjured testimony against them and otherwise interfered with the preparation of their defenses. Finally, petitioners charged that their trials were conducted in an atmosphere of terror and vengeance, conducive to mob violence instead of fair play. The District Court dismissed the applications without hearing evidence, and without further…
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