Spehr v. United States

49 F. App'x 303
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
DecidedOctober 8, 2002
DocketNo. 02-5057
StatusPublished

This text of 49 F. App'x 303 (Spehr v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Spehr v. United States, 49 F. App'x 303 (Fed. Cir. 2002).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Kurt S. Spehr (“Spehr”) appeals from a decision of the Court of Federal Claims denying Spehr’s motion for summary partial judgment and granting the government’s partial motion to dismiss and cross motion for partial summary judgment. Spehr v. United States, 51 Fed. Cl. 69 (Fed.Cl.2001) (“Spehr ”). Because we find no genuine issues of material fact or errors of law in the disposition of the case by the Court of Federal Claims, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

In August of 1991, an administrative discharge board found that Spehr had a personality disorder that had caused performance problems in his service with the Coast Guard. The board recommended that Spehr be honorably discharged for unsuitability on the basis of this disorder. The final reviewing authority concurred in this recommendation, and on May 8, 1992, the Coast Guard issued Spehr a “Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty” on the standard military form DD-214, listing the reason for separation as unsuitability, and listing Spehr’s “reentry code” as RE-4 (not eligible for reenlistment).

In October of 1993, Spehr petitioned the Board for Correction of Military Records (“Board”) to reverse the findings of the administrative discharge board. In his rebuttal to the subsequent advisory opinion of the Board, Spehr requested financial compensation in the amount of $1.8 million for, among other things, defamation of character, harassment, and lost pay potential. The Board denied Spehr’s petition in its entirety.

After an initial filing in 1997 in district court in Florida, Spehr filed an amended complaint in the Court of Federal Claims in June of 1999, alleging wrongful discharge and seeking, inter aha, an award of back pay, voiding of his administrative discharge, retirement as an E-9, and complete neurological testing. Spehr also renewed his request for $1.8 million in damages. The Court of Federal Claims entertained a series of motions from both parties. Ultimately, it denied all of Spehr’s motions for summary judgment; granted the government’s motion for partial summary judgment with respect to Spehr’s claim for back wages, allowances, and other claims ancillary to the wrongful discharge claim; and granted the government’s motion to dismiss Spehr’s remaining claims for lack of jurisdiction.

DISCUSSION

I. Summary Judgment

a

Spehr argued that he had been wrongfully discharged on the following grounds: [305]*305(1) his administrative discharge board was improperly composed of one commissioned officer and two chief warrant officers, in violation of internal Coast Guard regulations requiring that “administrative discharge boards shall consist of a minimum of three experienced commissioned officers,” Art. 6-L-3, U.S. Coast Guard Administrative Investigation Manual (COMD-TINST M5830.1) dated November 6, 1987; (2) he did not receive a required medical board proceeding, regarding the diagnosis of personality disorder, prior to his administrative discharge, in violation of Arts. 12.B.16.h and 12.B.16.J of the Coast Guard Personnel Manual; (3) the administrative discharge proceeding deprived him of a public hearing because his wife was excluded from the proceeding, and, contrary to regulations, the administrative record does not reflect the reason for her exclusion or for the departure of Master Chief Benson; (4) evidence obtained while Spehr was under psychiatric observation was used against him in violation of his right not to incriminate himself, as provided under the 5th Amendment to the Constitution and Article 31 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice; (5) Spehr’s due process rights were violated through “command influence” exerted upon the administrative discharge proceeding; (6) Spehr was not allowed to complete a six-month probation period prior to the administrative discharge proceeding; and (7) the transcript of the administrative discharge hearing does not indicate that an oath was administered to the “court reporter.” Spehr also argued that his discharge by the Coast Guard was legally ineffective, on the following grounds: (1) a discharge certificate (DD Form 214) was not delivered to Spehr on his scheduled date of discharge, making the discharge ineffective under 10 U.S.C. § 1168; and (2) the Coast Guard failed to pay him all of the final pay he was due upon discharge.

The Court of Federal Claims rejected each of these arguments in a thorough and carefully reasoned opinion. The court accordingly granted summary judgment to the government on Spehr’s claims for back pay and allowances. The Court also granted summary judgment to the government on the following claims ancillary to the alleged wrongful or ineffective discharge: (1) Spehr’s request that the court void his administrative discharge as illegal and remove the bar to his reenlistment; and (2) Spehr’s request for “interim advancements,” retirement as an E-9, and reissuance of his uniform.

b

Summary judgment is appropriate when there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). We review legal determinations of the Court of Federal Claims, such as the grant of summary judgment, without deference. Turner v. United States, 901 F.2d 1093, 1095 (Fed.Cir.1990). Our review of the comprehensive opinion of the Court of Federal Claims and the record presented to us in this appeal has not revealed any genuine issues of material fact or errors of law. Spehr disagrees with the outcome at the Court of Federal Claims and vigorously attempts to reargue the merits of his case before us. However, as a court of appeals, our function is not to retry the merits of a case, but to review the judgment of the trial court for errors. Polaroid Corp. v. Eastman Kodak Co., 789 F.2d 1556, 1558, 229 USPQ 561, 562 (Fed.Cir.1986) (noting that “we do not retry the case,” nor may we “proceed on a paper record as though no trial had taken place.”).

For example, Spehr argues that his discharge was wrongful, because his [306]*3065th Amendment and Article 31 rights against self-incrimination were denied to him as a result of the use of the Keesler staff psychiatrist’s diagnosis at Spehr’s administrative discharge board. In rejecting this argument, the Court of Federal Claims stated that “[a]n individual can invoke the privilege against self-incrimination in an investigatory proceeding only if he or she reasonably believes that the information is being sought for use in a subsequent state or federal criminal proceeding.” Spehr at 87. This is a correct statement of the law. Kastigar v. United States, 406 U.S. 441, 444-45, 92 S.Ct. 1653, 32 L.Ed.2d 212 (1972). Spehr argues that he believed, at the time of his observation at Keesler, that he was being investigated under Article 32 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. § 832

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