United States v. Reies Lopez Tijerina and Jerry Noll

BREITENSTEIN, Circuit Judge.

After a trial to the court without a jury, Tijerina and Noll were convicted of criminal contempt and each was sentenced to serve thirty days in jail and to pay a fine of $500. We held the case in abeyance to await the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Frank v. United States, 395 U.S. 147, 89 S.Ct. 1503, 23 L.Ed.2d 162 on the right of an accused in a contempt proceedings to a jury trial. The Frank decision, announced May 19, 1969, held that, if the “actual penalty is one which may be imposed upon those convicted of otherwise petty offenses,” a jury…