United States v. Adams

66 M.J. 255, 2008 CAAF LEXIS 617, 2008 WL 2051996
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Armed Forces
DecidedMay 13, 2008
Docket07-0796/AF
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 66 M.J. 255 (United States v. Adams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Adams, 66 M.J. 255, 2008 CAAF LEXIS 617, 2008 WL 2051996 (Ark. 2008).

Opinions

Chief Judge EFFRON delivered the opinion of the Court.

A general court-martial composed of officer and enlisted members convicted Appellant, contrary to his pleas, of one specification of being absent without leave and three specifications of dishonorably failing to maintain sufficient funds for payment of checks, in violation of Articles 86 and 134, Uniform [256]*256Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), 10 U.S.C. §§ 886, 934 (2000). The sentence adjudged by the court-martial and approved by the convening authority included a bad-conduct discharge, confinement for 179 days, and reduction to the lowest enlisted grade. The United States Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed. United States v. Adams, No. ACM 36226, 2007 CCA LEXIS 263, 2007 WL 2050718 (A.F.Ct.Crim.App. June 20, 2007) (unpublished).

On Appellant’s petition, we granted review of the following issue:

WHETHER THE COURT-MARTIAL CONVENED BY SPECIAL ORDER AB-12 HAD PROPER JURISDICTION WHEN THAT ORDER DID NOT TRANSFER MEMBERS APPOINTED BY PRIOR ORDERS AB-01, AB-07, AND AB-09, BUT MEMBERS NAMED IN THOSE ORDERS NONETHELESS SAT AS MEMBERS OF APPELLANT’S COURT-MARTIAL.

For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the decision of the United States Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals.

I. COMPOSITION OF THE COURT-MARTIAL PANEL

1. Initial proceedings

At the outset of his trial, Appellant requested trial before a court-martial composed of officer and enlisted members. See Article 25(c)(1), UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 825(c)(1) (2000); Rule for Courts-Martial (R.C.M.) 903(c)(1). Following the disposition of preliminary motions, the trial counsel provided the standard announcement of the composition of the court-martial, noting that the court-martial was convened by Special Order AB-01, as amended by Special Order AB-07 and Special Order AB-09. After accounting for members excused by the convening authority prior to assembly, the trial counsel identified the remaining nine members. The trial counsel administered the oath and the military judge announced that the court-martial was assembled. See R.C.M. 807.

2. The panel after voir dire and challenges

Following completion of voir dire and challenges, the following four members remained on the panel: Major (MAJ) RDH, Senior Master Sergeant (SMSgt) BJC, Master Sergeant (MSgt) MAB, and Tech Sergeant (TSgt) RDG. At that point, the panel composition fell below the minimum of five members required for a general court-martial quorum. See Article 16(1)(A), UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 816(1)(A) (2000); R.C.M. 805(b). The military judge called a recess so that new members could be detailed to the court-martial. See R.C.M. 505(c)(2)(B).

3. Proceedings after appointment of new members

The following morning, the military judge reconvened the court-martial for a session out of the presence of the members under Article 39(a), UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 839(a) (2000). He began by providing a detailed description of the procedural setting. First, the military judge summarized the reasons for the changes in the composition of the panel:

Counsel, I just wanted to put on the record just for continuity purposes, so that any reviewing authorities, should that become necessary, would know what’s going on. After we busted quorum yesterday, we did, in fact, put the court in recess. We now have a new appointing order appointing additional members to the panel.

Next, the military judge described the procedure for addressing the voir dire, challenges, and the reading of charges, both with respect to the new members and the members previously selected:

What we’ll do is go ahead and bring in those new members. The members that have already previously been selected, those four members will not be present; it will just be the five new members that have been appointed. We’ll go through the process of reading the general nature of the charges and going through the voir dire process. As I stated to counsel earlier, each side will still, in fact, have a peremptory challenge since this is a new [257]*257group of members that did not go through the original bedding [sic] process there for the original voir dire.

Finally, the military judge provided the parties with an opportunity to object to the appointing order or the procedure that he had outlined:

MJ: With that in mind, does anyone have an objection to the appointing order or the way that we are going to handle that?
CDC: No, Your Honor.
CTC: No, Your Honor.

The military judge then conducted the preliminary proceedings with the new members, as he had outlined to the parties. When the new members were brought into the courtroom, the military judge summarized the situation for the new members:

The parties are present and some of the members are present.
Members, just to give you an idea of what’s going on, we began this process yesterday, at which time, we did what was called a busted quorum, which means we got some panel members seated, we went under the below core number which is five; therefore, we had to have an appointment of new members which is you. We’re now going through the process to get you seated through the voir dire process.

The military judge next described what would transpire after voir dire:

And once that’s accomplished, we’ll then call the other four members who have already been seated, and we’ll combine you into one court, and then we’ll bring you in and begin presentation of the evidence in this case.

At the request of the military judge, the trial counsel provided the following description of the orders convening the court-martial:

This court-martial is convened by Special Order number AB-01 ... as amended by Special Order number AB-07, ... Special Order number AB-09, ... and Special Order number AB-12____

Trial counsel then identified the following five members as present in the courtroom: Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) RDA, LTC CK, MAJ JWD, 1st Lieutenant (1LT) JLV, 1LT JAD. In accordance with the procedure outlined by the military judge, the .trial counsel noted that the four members remaining from the initial proceedings were “absent.” Referring to his earlier remarks, the military judge observed that “the court has already been assembled and, therefore, this is partially reassembly of it at this time to go through the voir dire process and to give you some new instructions.” The military judge provided the new members with the standard preliminary instructions, and proceeded with voir dire of the new members. At the completion of voir dire and challenges, the military judge excused LTC RDA and 1LT JLV.

4. The panel after the second voir dire and challenges

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
66 M.J. 255, 2008 CAAF LEXIS 617, 2008 WL 2051996, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-adams-armfor-2008.