United States v. Brown

22 M.J. 448, 1986 CMA LEXIS 14647
CourtUnited States Court of Military Appeals
DecidedOctober 6, 1986
DocketNo. 51972; CM 445684
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 22 M.J. 448 (United States v. Brown) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Military Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Brown, 22 M.J. 448, 1986 CMA LEXIS 14647 (cma 1986).

Opinions

Opinion of the Court

COX, Judge:

Pursuant to his negotiated pleas at a general court-martial, appellant was convicted of violating a general regulation, drunken driving, involuntary manslaughter, and aggravated assault, in violation of Articles 92, 111, 119(b)(1), and 128, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. §§ 892, 911, 919(b)(1), and 928, respectively. He was sentenced by military judge sitting alone to confinement for 2 years, total forfeitures, and a bad-conduct discharge. In [449]*449accordance with the terms of a pretrial agreement, the convening authority reduced the confinement to 18 months, but otherwise approved the sentence. The Court of Military Review dismissed Charge III (drunken driving) and affirmed the remaining findings and sentence.

I

This Court granted review to determine: WHETHER THE MILITARY JUDGE ERRED IN FINDING APPELLANT GUILTY OF CHARGES I AND II (INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER AND AGGRAVATED ASSAULT) INASMUCH AS ONE CANNOT BE HELD LIABLE AS AN AIDER AND ABETTOR TO ANOTHER WHO COMMITS A CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT ACT.

Appellant, as the owner of a car, permitted Specialist Four Darrell Robinson, who was drunk, to operate the car on the public highways of Germany. An accident resulted wherein one 15-year-old boy was killed and another boy was seriously injured. Because appellant pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault and, thus, the Government was not put to its proof, a relative paucity of facts are developed in the record. The following version of events was admitted by appellant during the inquiry into the providence of his pleas:

On the evening of September 10, 1983, appellant attended a party at the home of a fellow soldier, arriving after the party was in progress. During the one-and-one-half to two hours that appellant was present, he observed Robinson drink “two half-liter beers” (a little more than a quart). Appellant was unaware whether Robinson had consumed any other alcohol. In fact, Robinson had consumed three beers and two shots of liquor over a two-hour period. When the party ended, Robinson asked if he could drive appellant’s car. Appellant responded with, “You don’t have a license.” Although Robinson did not have a valid license, he retorted, “Yes, I do.” Whereupon, appellant gave his car keys to Robinson and the two soldiers departed in appellant’s automobile.

Shortly thereafter, Robinson veered off of the road, traveling for 150 meters with two wheels of the car on the shoulder, knocking over three road markers. Appellant said he grabbed the steering wheel and brought the car back onto the road, telling Robinson “to stop the car because he could have gotten us killed.” Eighty-five meters after the car returned to the road, it struck two mopeds driven by the unfortunate boys. At the time of the accident, visibility and road conditions were good. Blood alcohol tests administered two hours after the accident revealed 0.44 milligrams of alcohol per milliliter of blood for appellant and 1.62 milligrams per milliliter for Robinson.

During the inquiry into the providence of appellant’s guilty pleas, the military judge explained the law of principals and defined culpable negligence and proximate cause. Although appellant stated that he did not realize Robinson was impaired until he began driving, he admitted that Robinson was drunk at the time appellant allowed him to drive and that “a reasonable person would have known that he was drunk at that time.” Appellant also admitted that serious injury and death were foreseeable consequences of permitting a “drunken person” to drive his car and that the death and injury were the proximate cause of his culpable negligence in allowing Robinson to operate his car in a reckless manner while Robinson was drunk.

Appellant now challenges his convictions for involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault, contending that he cannot be held accountable on a theory of aiding and abetting Robinson’s culpably negligent operation of the vehicle because there was no conscious sharing of criminal purpose. In United States v. Waluski, 6 U.S.C.M.A. 724, 21 C.M.R. 46 (1956), this Court recognized that one other than the driver could be held accountable for a death if he affirmatively aided or encouraged the driver’s culpably negligent operation of a vehicle. Convictions of involuntary manslaughter have been upheld against the owner of a car who has permit[450]*450ted an intoxicated driver to operate the car on the public highways if death results from the operation of the vehicle. See Story v. United States, 16 F.2d 342 (D.C. Cir.1926), cert. denied, 274 U.S. 739, 47 S.Ct. 576, 71 L.Ed. 1318 (1927); State v. Whitaker, 43 N.C.App. 600, 259 S.E.2d 316 (1979); Freeman v. State, 211 Tenn. 27, 362 S.W.2d 251 (1962); Stacy v. State, 228 Ark. 260, 306 S.W.2d 852 (1957). But see People v. Marshall, 362 Mich. 170, 106 N.W.2d 842 (1961) (where owner of vehicle was home in bed at time of accident, owner was not accomplice in death); Lash v. State, 97 Ga.App. 622, 103 S.E.2d 653 (1958) (owner could not be convicted of involuntary manslaughter where driver was on a mission of his own without owner’s knowledge and consent). Under the circumstances of this case, however, it is unnecessary to base appellant’s liability upon his role in aiding Robinson’s culpable negligence.

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

Related

United States v. Specialist PHILLIP THOMPSON
Army Court of Criminal Appeals, 2025
<p data-block-key="qa7tx">U.S. v. ROHLFS</p>
Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals, 2024
United States v. WATLINGTON
Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals, 2023
United States v. McMurrin
72 M.J. 697 (Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals, 2013)
United States v. Goodman
70 M.J. 396 (Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, 2011)
United States v. Zachary
61 M.J. 813 (Army Court of Criminal Appeals, 2005)
United States v. Dominguez-Ochoa
386 F.3d 639 (Fifth Circuit, 2004)
United States v. Oxendine
55 M.J. 323 (Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, 2001)
United States v. Nelson
53 M.J. 319 (Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, 2000)
United States v. Martinez
52 M.J. 22 (Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, 1999)
United States v. Gibson
43 M.J. 343 (Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, 1995)
United States v. Gibson
39 M.J. 1043 (U.S. Army Court of Military Review, 1994)
United States v. Joyner
39 M.J. 965 (U S Air Force Court of Military Review, 1994)
United States v. McMonagle
38 M.J. 53 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1993)
United States v. Apilado
34 M.J. 773 (U.S. Army Court of Military Review, 1992)
United States v. Adams
33 M.J. 300 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1991)
United States v. Baker
24 M.J. 354 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1987)
United States v. Henderson
23 M.J. 77 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1986)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
22 M.J. 448, 1986 CMA LEXIS 14647, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-brown-cma-1986.