Trial
Gillars was indicted on September 10, 1948, and charged with 10 counts of treason but only eight were proceeded with at her trial which began on January 25, 1949.
The prosecution relied on the large number of her programs recorded by the Federal Communications Commission stationed in Silver Hill, Maryland, to show her active participation in propaganda activities against the United States. It was also shown that she had made an oath of allegiance to Hitler.
The defense argued that her broadcasts stated unpopular opinions but did not amount to treasonable conduct. It was also argued that she was under the hypnotic influence of Koischwitz and therefore not fully responsible for her actions until after his death.
On March 10, 1949, the jury convicted Gillars on just one count of treason, that of making the ‘Vision Of Invasion’ broadcast. For this count alone she was sentenced to 10-to-30 years in prison. and a $10,000 fine.
In 1950, a federal appeals court upheld the sentence.
Read more about this topic: Mildred Gillars
Famous quotes containing the word trial:
“Between us two it’s not a star at all.
It’s a new patented electric light,
Put up on trial by that Jerseyite
So much is being now expected of....”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“A trial cannot be conducted by announcing the general culpability of a civilization. Only the actual deeds which, at least, stank in the nostrils of the entire world were brought to judgment.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“Every political system is an accumulation of habits, customs, prejudices, and principles that have survived a long process of trial and error and of ceaseless response to changing circumstances. If the system works well on the whole, it is a lucky accident—the luckiest, indeed, that can befall a society.”
—Edward C. Banfield (b. 1916)