Cross v. United States

135 Ct. Cl. 193, 1956 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 155, 1956 WL 8310
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedMay 1, 1956
DocketNo. 414-54
StatusPublished

This text of 135 Ct. Cl. 193 (Cross v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cross v. United States, 135 Ct. Cl. 193, 1956 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 155, 1956 WL 8310 (cc 1956).

Opinion

LaraMOre, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff sues to recover his pay and allowances which he alleges were due him for the period he was illegally confined in prison and while he was a first sergeant in the U. S. Marine Corps.

The facts in this case have been stipulated and are summarized as follows. Plaintiff in 1946, while serving as a first sergeant in the IT. S. Marine Corps, was found guilty by a general court-martial of the following charges:

I. Drunkenness.

II. Burglary.

III. Assault with intent to commit rape.

IY. Scandalous conduct tending to the destruction of good morals.

Plaintiff was sentenced to confinement for a period of 10 years in a United States naval prison, reduction to the rank of private, dishonorable discharge from the U. S. Naval Service, and to suffer the accessories of the sentence as provided in section 622, Naval Courts and Boards.

On review by the Acting Secretary of the Navy the sentence was reduced to five years confinement and accessories. After serving approximately 19 months of his sentence, the unex-ecuted portion was remitted and plaintiff was subsequently discharged under conditions other than honorable. Thereafter, plaintiff filed a petition in accordance with section 12 of the Act of May 5, 1950, 64 Stat. 107, 147, with the [195]*195office of the Judge Advocate General on the ground that an injustice resulted from his court-martial conviction. Plaintiff in that petition requested (1) vacation of the sentence; (2) restoration of his rights, privileges and property affected by the sentence; and (3) an honorable discharge, or in lieu thereof, a form of discharge authorized for administrative issuance other than undesirable.

The Judge Advocate General of the Navy granted in part the relief requested. Under heading (1) he set aside the proceedings and findings under charge II and so much under charge III as was in excess of unlawful assault. He granted no relief requested under headings (2) and (3).

Plaintiff then made application to the Board for Correction of Naval Eecords for correction of his undesirable discharge and reduction in rank and payment of any amount found to be due on account of the alleged injustice, unlawful conviction, and illegal confinement. The Board changed plaintiff’s records to show that he was separated from the naval service as a first sergeant and changed his discharge to a general discharge by reason of disability. He was subsequently awarded an honorable discharge by the Marine Corps.

The Board for Correction of Naval Eecords on October 27, 1953, sent plaintiff a claim form, the subject of which claim was for all monetary benefits due by reason of correction of his Marine Corps record. This claim form was duly signed by plaintiff and forwarded to the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Department of Navy, Washington, on November 3,1953.

On February 15, 1954, plaintiff received a check from the U. S. Marine Corps, Claims Section, in the amount of $909.90, covering the following items:

Monetary Benefits Due under PL 220
Mustering Out Pay-$300.00
UnLv 60 days 1st Sgt (15) @ $206.25 per month_ 412.50
UnLv Subs 60 days @ 70$ per diem_ 42. 00
Travel from place of dis MB USNB NY Brooklyn, N. Y. to place of acceptance for enlistment (Acc for enl New Zealand Wellington) nearest port of entry Wilmington, Calif. 3,108 miles @ 5$ per mile_ 155.40
Total_ 909. 90

[196]*196No payment was included for the time he was in prison. Said check was returned to the Claims Section and timely request was made for the first sergeant’s pay plaintiff lost by reason of the fact that he was not paid during the period he was confined by naval authorities. This request was denied, and the check is still with the U. S. Marine Corps. This suit resulted.

Exhibit A to the stipulation of facts recites that trial was had on September 16, 1946,1 and plaintiff sentenced to be reduced in rank to private, to be confined for a period of 10 years, to be dishonorably discharged from the U. S. Naval Service, and to suffer all the other accessories of said sentence as prescribed by section 622, Naval Courts and Boards.

Section 622, Naval Courts and Boards (1937), at page 300, provides as follows:

(24) Meaning of “other accessories of said sentence.” — The. words “other accessories of said sentence” when used in the sentence of a general court-martial in the case of an enlisted man shall be understood to include the following: (a) The person so sentenced shall perform hard labor while confined pursuant to such sentence; and (5) after his accrued pay (and allowances, in the case of an enlisted man of the Marine Corps) shall have discharged his indebtedness to the United States at the date of approval of such sentence shall forfeit all pay (and allowances, in the case of an enlisted man of the Marine Corps sentenced to dishonorable or bad-conduct discharge) that may become due him during a period equivalent to the term of such confinement (or if sentenced to dishonorable or bad-conduct discharge, during his current enlistment), except the following sums, which are exempt from forfeiture in the amounts and for the purposes stated: Allowance for necessary prison expenses during confinement, at the rate of $3.00 per month from date of conviction; gratuity of $25.00 payable upon discharge, if discharged from the prison pursuant to such sentence with dishonorable or bad-conduct discharge, if the prisoner so discharged would otherwise be without funds to meet his immediate needs; purchase price of civilian clothing outfit furnished upon discharge if the prisoner would otherwise [197]*197be unprovided with suitable clothing; cost of transportation, with subsistence and transfer en route, furnished upon discharge to his home or place of enlistment.

It is apparent from the above that conviction and confinement carried with it forfeiture of pay and allowances. Later, the unexpired portion of plaintiff’s sentence was remitted and he was on April 21, 1948, given a discharge under conditions other than honorable.

When, on October 26, 1953, the Board for Correction of Naval Records ordered that plaintiff’s record be corrected to show he was separated from the service as a first sergeant, and that his undesirable discharge be changed to a general discharge by reason of disability, they said nothing about forfeiture of pay and allowances. That portion of the record still stands, and it is not for this court to set it aside. The sentence of a court-martial with jurisdiction over the person is final and conclusive and may not be collaterally attacked. Sima v. United States, 119 C. Cls. 405, 425.

Furthermore, the Correction Board only ordered that plaintiff’s record be corrected to show he was separated as a first sergeant. The Marine Corps obviously exceeded its authority when it (as shown on the back of the general discharge given plaintiff) stated “Rank held on discharge: First sergeant, 1 February 1942.”

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Related

Sima v. United States
96 F. Supp. 932 (Court of Claims, 1951)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
135 Ct. Cl. 193, 1956 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 155, 1956 WL 8310, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cross-v-united-states-cc-1956.