U.S. vs. Ellis Buck, Sam Brenner, Viola Doss, et al.: Memorandum Opinion and Orders
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
28 Memorandum opinion and orders dealing with demurrers and motions to squash, pleas in abatement and motions to strike such pleas in abatement in Criminal Cases Nos. 13646, 13648, and 13650. Due to the similarities of the cases, only No. 13646 is addressed in detail. The demurrers and motions to squash argue about what and how voters' rights are violated when counts are switched from the intended candidate to another vs. simply not being counted, whether citizens indeed possess a right to vote for members of Congress, the level of detail included in the describtion of the charges, and other potential issues with the indictments as written. District Judge Merrill E. Otis overrules these arguments. The pleas in abatement are based on a claim that Judge Albert L. Reeves was "intemperate, inflammatory, argumentative, prejudicial" to the grand jury that returned the indictments. Judge Otis writes that there is nothing to justify the idea that the grand jurors acted "only as a group of puppets, robbed of their reason" in bringing the indictments, and that the pleas should be overruled.
