People v. Gordan

Defendant was charged by information with violating the provisions of section 249 of the Penal Code. That section defines and prohibits the offense commonly known as criminal libel. He was tried by a jury, found guilty, and sentenced to imprisonment in the county jail for the term of six months. This is an appeal from the judgment of conviction and the order denying defendant’s motion for a new trial.

Defendant is the owner and publisher of a magazine styled “The Crusader,” and it has a circulation of some sixty to eighty thousand copies. The information alleges in substance that defendant, as…