Biography
Iva Toguri D’Aquino, later widely labeled “Tokyo Rose,” was an American citizen stranded in wartime Japan who worked on English-language radio programs aimed at Allied troops. After Japan’s surrender she was arrested by U.S. occupation authorities and held for about a year before being released; public pressure later revived the case, and she was brought to the United States in 1948 to face trial. In 1949 a federal jury convicted her on one count of treason; she received a ten-year sentence and a $10,000 fine, served more than six years in federal custody (including at a women’s reformatory in West Virginia), and was released in 1956. In 1977, Gerald Ford granted her a full pardon, restoring her citizenship.
The Ninth Circuit opinion dated October 10, 1951 records her October 17, 1945 military arrest in Japan, October 25, 1946 release, August 26, 1948 rearrest in Tokyo, and September 25, 1948 arrival in San Francisco, transfer to the FBI and arraignment. It places FBI interviews on April 29 and 30, 1946 in Sugamo Prison. These are separate custody episodes, with a period of freedom between them. Appellate defense counsel were Wayne M. Collins, Theodore Tamba, George Olshausen and Marvel Shore; Healy, Bone and Pope formed the appellate panel, with Pope writing the opinion affirming the conviction. These are appellate roles, not an identification of the trial judge. This contemporary opinion predates the later pardon already recorded here. 192 F.2d 338, October 10, 1951.
