Description:

(TOKYO WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL) ASSOCIATE COUNSEL DAVID N. SUTTON DOCUMENT ARCHIVE
DAVID NELSON SUTTON (1895-1974) American associate counsel for the prosecution during the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), popularly known as the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, convened in April 1946 to try leaders of the Empire of Japan for their crimes against peace, conventional war crimes, and crimes against humanity, leading up to and during World War II. Sutton was largely responsible for gathering witness testimony related to Japanese war crimes in China, including the Rape of Nanjing (formerly romanized as Nanking). Presented here is the balance of a very large archive of documents related to Sutton's tenure with the IMTFE, 1946-48. The group includes several pieces dealing with the legal basis for the case, including an approx. 50pp. legal tablet filled with Sutton's handwritten notes on the U.S. Supreme Court case Hirota v. MacArthur, which held U.S. courts had no authority to review or reverse the verdicts and sentences handed out by the IMTFE, as well as 8pp. of handwritten notes on the concurring and dissenting opinions issued by the IMTFE's justices at the tribunal's end. Also present are several mimeographed copies of ‘The Trial of Tojo', an address prepared by Sutton as President of the Virginia Bar Association describing the course of the tribunal, which was later adapted as an article in the American Bar Association Journal, an issue of which is also include. The group includes several mimeographed copies of other articles discussing the tribunal and Japan's judicial system by Sutton's fellow associate counsels Solis Horowitz, Rowland W. Fixel and Kurt Steiner. The balance of the group consists of many newspaper clippings describing the progress of the IMTFE, as well as many items related to Sutton's orders under the War Department Adjutant General's Office, his travel arrangements between Japan and the U.S., and his pay records. Approx. 250 pieces overall, should be examined in person.

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November 13, 2025 10:00 AM EST
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
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$2,000,000 + $100,000