Salyer v. Commonwealth

Kermit W. Salyer, the defendant, was cited for contempt of court by a rule alleging that he had published “certain vile, contemptuous and insulting language ... of and concerning the Judge” of the Circuit Court of Franklin County “in an ‘Editor’s Note’ . . . appearing in the Franklin News Post in the issue dated October 5, 1967.”

In a summary proceeding, the defendant was found guilty of contempt and was sentenced to jail for a term of ten days. He was granted a writ of error to the final order incorporating the conviction and imposition of sentence.

The record shows that the defendant is the…