Davis Guilty On 26 Counts
Davis Guilty on 26 Counts
Former U-M Teacher Loses Contempt Case
GRAND RAPIDS (AP)-- A former University of Michigan mathematics instructor today was found guilty by Federal Judge W. Wallace Kent on 26 counts of contempt of Congress.
Dr. Horace Chandler Davis, 30, was ordered to appear July 12 for sentence. He was continued on personal bond.
Judge Kent, in an eight-page opinion, declared, “the court is satisfied that the presumption of innocence has been overcome and that the government has established the guilt of the defendant beyond every reasonable doubt.”
Dr. Davis was indicted in Grand Rapids by a federal grand jury for refusal to answer questions May 19, 1954, addressed, to him by a House un-American activities subcommittee in Lansing.
He pleaded the first amendment in refusing to answer the questions regarding his alleged Communist affiliations while teaching at the U-M.
He was tried before Judge Kent last November. The judge has held the matter under advisement since the trial.
Dr. Davis, dismissed by the U-M, reportedly has been teaching mathematics at Columbia University.