Biography
Lester Masao Uyeda was a Hawaii draft defendant convicted of refusing induction. R. Jeffrey Blair, who attended his October 1972 trial, recounts that Judge Gus J. Solomon imposed a two-year sentence and marshals took Uyeda to Halawa Jail. Lawyer David Bettencourt obtained release pending appeal after two weeks. On March 27, 1973 the Ninth Circuit reversed because the induction order underlying the conviction was invalid in light of Uyeda’s entitlement to a student deferment.
Lester Masao Uyeda was a Hawaii draft defendant convicted of refusing induction. R. Jeffrey Blair, who attended his October 1972 trial, recounts that Judge Gus J. Solomon imposed a two-year sentence and marshals took Uyeda to Halawa Jail. Lawyer David Bettencourt obtained release pending appeal after two weeks. On March 27, 1973 the Ninth Circuit reversed because the induction order underlying the conviction was invalid in light of Uyeda’s entitlement to a student deferment.
Two years imposed; Blair’s eyewitness account reports two weeks actually jailed at Halawa before Judge Martin Pence granted release pending appeal. Exact admission and release days are not supplied.
Original source PDF; United States v. Uyeda, original appellate opinion.
