Spencer v. Howe

Defendant appeals from an order finding him in direct contempt of the Lane County Circuit Court, and sentencing him to a six-month term of incarceration, based upon his refusal to "answer as a witness.”1 Entered summarily, the order is challenged both on the grounds that defendant was denied his right to "due process” and that the sanction imposed was in excess of that authorized by statute.

Convicted of the crime of robbery in the first degree defendant had been in the custody of the Corrections Division for approximately one year when, on October 8, 1976, he was called to testify for the…