Royall asserted that there was no evidence to prove that the Germans would have followed through with their plans. They had not been trained for espionage and sabotage, had only vague contacts through which to communicate with Germany, and had no plans to return home until after the war. Biddle rebutted this argument, citing the case of British Major John André, who was executed as a spy by the Continental Army for passing through American lines to meet with American officer Benedict Arnold during the American Revolutionary War. Royall, along with his clients, then petitioned for a writ of "habeas corpus" demanding that the Germans were entitled to trial by jury guaranteed by the U.S. Fifth and Sixth Amendments. Though the U.S. Supreme Court had been adjourned for the summer, it convened in a special session on July 29, 1942, to consider the matter. Justice Frank Murphy, an Army officer at the time, recused himself.