United States v. Bethea

2 M.J. 892, 1976 CMR LEXIS 824
CourtU.S. Army Court of Military Review
DecidedMay 24, 1976
DocketSPCM 11298
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 2 M.J. 892 (United States v. Bethea) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U.S. Army 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. Bethea, 2 M.J. 892, 1976 CMR LEXIS 824 (usarmymilrev 1976).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

DeFORD, Judge:

The appellant, contrary to his pleas, was tried and convicted by a military judge, sitting as a special court-martial, of multiple charges of failure to repair; willful disobedience of lawful orders of superior commissioned officers; and willful disobedience of lawful orders of noncommissioned officers in violation of Articles 86, 90, and 91, Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) (10 U.S.C. §§ 886, 890 and 891) and received the approved sentence set forth above.

Appellant through counsel alleges as error, among others, that Specifications 1 and 2 of Charge II, Specification 5 of Charge III, and Additional Charge II were not properly chargeable as violations of Articles 90 and 91, UCMJ, as they constituted merely orders to perform duties appellant was already required to perform by reason of his status as a soldier. In addition, appellant alleges that Specifications 1 and 2, Charge II, had no legal efficacy beyond the charge of disobedience of the order of Staff Sergeant Smitherman as set forth in Specification 5, Charge III.

The charges and specifications in issue are as follows:

“Charge II: Violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Article 90 Specification 1: In that Private E-l David A. Bethea, U. S. Army, Company C, 3d Battalion, 33d Armor, having received a lawful command from Captain John C. Burch, his superior commissioned officer, to go to the Company C motor pool and remain there until he was released by proper authority, did, at Ayers Kaserne, Kirch Goens, Federal Republic of Germany, on or about 0815 hours, 25 November 1974, willfully disobey the same. Specification 2: In that Private E-l David A. Bethea, U. S. Army, Company C, 3d Battalion, 33d Armor, having received a lawful command from Second Lieutenant Kevin T. Murphy, his superior commissioned officer, to get out of bed, did, at Ayers Kaserne, Kirch Goens, Federal Republic of Germany, on or about 25 November 1974, willfully disobey the same.
Charge III: Violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Article 91 Specification 4: In that Private E-l David A. Bethea, U. S. Army, Company C, 3d Battalion, 33d Armor, having received a lawful order from Staff Sergeant James D. Smitherman, his superior noncommissioned officer, to get out of bed, did, at Ayers Kaserne, Kirch Goens, Federal Republic of Germany, on or about 0600 hours, 26 November 1974, willfully disobey the same.
Specification 5: In that Private E-l David A. Bethea, U. S. Army, Company C, 3d Battalion, 33d Armor, having received a lawful order from Staff Sergeant James D. Smitherman, his superior noncommissioned officer, to get out of bed and clean up his area, did, at Ayers Kaserne, Kirch Goens, Federal Republic of Germany, on or about 0630 hours, 25 November 1974, willfully disobey the same.
Additional Charge II: Violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Article 90
Specification: In that Private E-l David A. Bethea, U. S. Army, Company C, 3d Battalion, 33d Armor, having received a lawful command from Lieutenant Colonel Jack T. Clark, his superior commissioned officer, to get out of bed, get dressed and go to daily training, did, at Ayers Kaserne, Kirch Goens, Federal Republic of Germany, on or about 0900 hours, 6 December 1974, willfully disobey the same.”

The appellant was initially awakened on the morning of 25 November 1974 by Staff Sergeant Smitherman and told to get out of bed and clean up his area. The appellant refused and remained in bed. At or about [894]*8940740 on the same morning, and after the appellant’s initial conduct had been reported to his platoon leader, Lieutenant Murphy, that officer went to the appellant’s room and gave him a second order to-get out of bed. The appellant again refused to comply with this second order. Subsequently at 0745 on the same day, the appellant failed to repair to work formation. Finally, at 0815 of the same day, his company commander went to the appellant’s room and gave him an order to go to the unit motor pool and remain there until released by proper authority. At the time the appellant received the order of his company commander, he was still in bed.

The following day the appellant was again awakened by Staff Sergeant Smitherman on or about 0630 that morning. Sergeant Smitherman testified that he found the appellant in bed. He then shook him and said, “Would you mind getting up and cleaning up your area.” The appellant just looked at him and refused to get up. Staff Sergeant Smitherman left the area.

Subsequently at 0900 on 6 December 1975, the appellant’s battalion commander, after being advised of the appellant’s previous behavior, went to the appellant’s room in company with appellant’s company commander and found the appellant in bed. The battalion commander then gave the appellant an order to “get out of bed, get dressed and go to daily training.” The appellant refused to comply with the order.

The major thrust of appellant’s argument is based upon the case of United States v. Bratcher1 as well as paragraphs 26b and 169b of the Manual.2

In Bratcher, the United States Court of Military Appeals considered a case in which a soldier who was a conscientious objector was given an order by his company commander, a commissioned officer, to perform duties as a duty soldier.

The court stated that the willful disobedience contemplated is such as shows intentional defiance of authority as when an enlisted person is given a lawful command by an officer to do or cease doing a particular thing at once and refuses or deliberately omits to do what is ordered. The order in issue did not contemplate performance or non-performance of some special function but was rather an order to perform military obligations with which he already had responsibility to perform by reason of his status as a soldier. Accordingly, the court held the order unenforceable under Article 90, UCMJ.

Subsequent cases have applied the Bratcher doctrine to orders to train;3 to resume training.4

Paragraph 26b of the Manual provides in part, “ . . . If a person willfully disobeys an order to do a certain thing, and persists in his disobedience when the same order is given by the same or other superi- or, a multiplication of charges of disobedience should be avoided . . . There are times, however, when sufficient doubt as to the facts or the law exists to warrant making one transaction the basis for charging two or more offenses. . . . ”5

Paragraph 169b of the Manual, supra, explains Article 90, UCMJ, and provides in part, that non-performance by a subordinate of any mere routine duty may be a violation of Article 92 or Article 134.

The evidence of record clearly reflects that the orders given the appellant on the mornings of 25 and 26 November and 6 December 1974 were not designed to cause the appellant to be subjected to increased [895]

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Bluebook (online)
2 M.J. 892, 1976 CMR LEXIS 824, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-bethea-usarmymilrev-1976.