. NMT02-T0301
Volume II · Page 301
Article XV of Ordinance No. 7 of Military Government for Germany (US) provides that the judgment of the Tribunal as to the guilt or innocence of any defendant shall be final and not subject to review. However, Article XVII provides that the Military Governor has the power to mitigate, reduce, or otherwise alter the sentence imposed by the Tribunal, but may not increase the severity thereof. The petitions on behalf of defendants seeking a revision of the sentences have ordinarily been called clemency pleas.
All 16 defendants found guilty by the Tribunal in case No. I petitioned for clemency to the Military Governor of the United States Zone of Occupation in accordance with Article XVII of Ordinance No. 7. Each of the condemned defendants, with the exception of the defendant Poppendick, also petitioned to the Supreme Court of the United States for a writ of habeas corpus and for a writ of prohibition against the proceeding or an order nullifying the trial and setting the defendants at liberty. Moreover, all defendants, with the exception of the defendant Becker-Freyseng, filed appeals of some kind with the Secretary of War. From these various types of petitions, six are set forth below in whole or in part as follows: petition of appeal to the Secretary of War for the defendant Karl Brandt, page 302; petition for a writ of habeas corpus and a writ of prohibition to the Supreme Court of the United States by the defendant Rose, pp. 303 to 306; extracts from the petition for a writ of habeas corpus and a writ of prohibition to the Supreme Court of the United States by the defendant Schroeder, pp. 307 to 308; petition for review to the Military Governor of the United States Zone of Occupation for the defendant Genzken, pp. 309 to 318; clemency plea to the Military Governor of the United States Zone of Occupation for the defendant Rudolf Brandt, pp. 319 to 321; and clemency plea to the Military Governor of the United States Zone of Occupation for the defendant Poppendick, pp. 322 to 326.
