United States v. Baran

19 M.J. 595
CourtU S Air Force Court of Military Review
DecidedNovember 1, 1984
DocketACM 24340
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 19 M.J. 595 (United States v. Baran) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U S Air Force Court of Military Review primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Baran, 19 M.J. 595 (usafctmilrev 1984).

Opinions

DECISION

CARPARELLI, Judge:

The appellant has been convicted of rape.1 2Appellate defense counsel argue, [450]*450inter alia, that two admissions made by appellant were accepted in evidence without sufficient corroboration and that testimony regarding hearsay statements made by one of appellant’s co-actors was admitted contrary to the rules of evidence and the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment. Having considered all the errors asserted, we affirm. The facts before us are as follows.

The victim, Airman K.P., testified that she became extremely intoxicated in appellant’s barracks room while playing cards with appellant, Airman Pasetti (appellant’s roommate), Airman Hawks (appellant’s neighbor in the barracks), and Airman Coleman (the victim’s female friend). The card game required the loser of each hand to take a drink of bourbon. Airman K.P. stated that she remembered the end of the card game and then repeatedly throwing the cards in the air. She stated there was no romancing or flirtation before, during, or after the game. The next thing she recalled was waking up in a bed in the same room and finding Airman Hawks having intercourse with her. She stated she was confused at first and reacted to Hawks’ comments and overtures by responding with approval. However, upon regaining her full awareness she started to cry and entreated him to stop. When he complied she got up, dressed and left the room. She went next door to find Airman Coleman and encountered Airman Pasetti. She was crying and expressed her anger at Pasetti. She then departed the barracks. She testified that she was sure that Hawks had intercourse with her and that she felt that Pasetti had done so also. She had no knowledge or belief regarding whether the appellant had sexually molested her.

The prosecution presented a stipulation of fact indicating that the group had drunk more than a quart of bourbon during the card game. They also presented two stipulations of expected testimony: one regarding a rape protocol examination of the victim and another containing a psychiatrist’s comments regarding alcohol intoxication and resultant confusion, disorientation, arousable stupor and blackout. Airman Coleman and Airman Gomez, a resident of the same barracks, also testified. Over defense objection, Gomez testified that, in the timeframe described by the victim, he was approached by Airman Pasetti in the hall of the barracks. Pasetti said, “Hey Gomez, do you want an easy f_?” Pasetti told Gomez that he had a girl in his room and he “was switching on her.” According to Gomez, Pasetti told him about the two women and said that they had gotten “pretty well drunk.” Gomez was permitted to testify that Pasetti stated that Airman K.P. had initially insisted that others leave the room before she would engage in sexual foreplay with Pasetti but that she said nothing when appellant entered the room and took pictures of them while Pasetti was having intercourse with her. Gomez testified further that Pasetti told him that, when he had finished, he put his hand in the victim’s vagina and that, without her knowing it, “they” surreptitiously replaced Pasetti’s hand with the hand of one of the other participants. Pasetti said he then left the room and got Gomez.

Gomez was also able to testify as to his own observations. Through the opened door of the room he saw Hawks kneeling and watching something in the darkened room. Hawks asked Gomez, “Are you going to f_ her?” When Gomez replied that the situation was sick, Hawks shut the door. Pasetti said, “Wouldn’t it be funny if she knew Hawks was screwing her because she [doesn’t] like black guys.” Pasetti then told Gomez that he had tried, without success, to find Paskell, another barracks resident, in order to offer him the opportunity to participate.

At that time Gomez saw the appellant walk out of the room naked carrying his pants and his camera. The appellant remarked to the effect that the situation was “wild.” Gomez asked, “Does she know what’s going on?” and the appellant replied, “She’s moaning, I guess she does.” Gomez then saw Airman Coleman come out of the next room and ask where Airman K.P. was. Appellant and Pasetti both indicated that she had left the barracks. [451]*451When Coleman started to go toward the door to Pasetti’s room, Pasetti intercepted her and kept her outside the room.

In a statement to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) and in testimony at Pasetti’s trial, appellant admitted that he participated in the card playing and drinking before the incident. In his testimony he also admitted taking pictures of Pasetti and Airman K.P. while the two were having intercourse. In both his statement to AFOSI and his testimony at Pasetti’s trial, he admitted entering the room, undressing, having intercourse with Airman K.P. and seeing Airman Hawks as he (appellant) departed the room. In both statements, however, appellant asserted that, although Airman K.P. said nothing to him while he was in the room before and after the intercourse, she was awake, she was physically responsive, she never said no, she moaned and she said his name once or twice during the intercourse.

I

Appellant contends that his prior written statement to AFOSI and the transcript of his prior testimony were received in evidence without sufficient corroboration of his admission that he had sexual intercourse with the victim, a fact essential to the government’s proof. See Smith v. United States, 348 U.S. 147, 75 S.Ct. 194, 99 L.Ed. 192 (1954).

The general rule that an accused may not be convicted on his own uncorroborated confession was discussed by the Supreme Court in Smith v. United States, supra. The Court stated:

[The rule’s] purpose is to prevent “errors in convictions based upon untrue confessions alone,” Warszower v. United States, [312 U.S. 342, 347, 61 S.Ct. 603, 606, 85 L.Ed. 876 (1941)]; its foundation lies in a long history of judicial experience with confessions and in the realization that sound law enforcement requires police investigations which extend beyond the words of the accused. Confessions may be unreliable because they are coerced or induced, and although separate doctrines exclude involuntary confessions from consideration by the jury, Bram v. United States [168 U.S. 532, 18 S.Ct. 183, 42 L.Ed. 568 (1897)], supra; Wilson v. United States [162 U.S. 613, 16 S.Ct. 895, 40 L.Ed. 1090 (1896) ], supra, further caution is warranted because the accused may be unable to establish the involuntary nature of his statements. Moreover, though a statement may not be “involuntary” within the meaning of this exclusionary rule, still its reliability may be suspect if it is extracted from one who is under the pressure of a police investigation — whose words may reflect the strain and confusion attending his predicament rather than a clear reflection of his past. Finally, the experience of the courts, the police and the medical profession recounts a number of false confessions voluntarily made, Note, 28 Ind.L.J. 374. These are the considerations which justify a restriction on the power of the jury to convict, for this experience with confessions is not shared by the average juror.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Lonetree
31 M.J. 849 (U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Military Review, 1990)
United States v. Baran
23 M.J. 736 (U S Air Force Court of Military Review, 1986)
United States v. Baran
22 M.J. 265 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1986)
United States v. Robinson
21 M.J. 907 (U S Air Force Court of Military Review, 1986)
United States v. Wagner
20 M.J. 758 (U S Air Force Court of Military Review, 1985)
United States v. Poduszczak
20 M.J. 627 (U.S. Army Court of Military Review, 1985)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
19 M.J. 595, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-baran-usafctmilrev-1984.