United States v. Castro

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Armed Forces
DecidedMay 19, 2021
Docket21-0017/AR
StatusPublished

This text of United States v. Castro (United States v. Castro) 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. Castro, (Ark. 2021).

Opinion

This opinion is subject to revision before publication

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ARMED FORCES _______________

UNITED STATES Appellee v. Clovis H. CASTRO, Sergeant United States Army, Appellant No. 21-0017 Crim. App. No. 20190408 Argued March 10, 2021—Decided May 19, 2021 Military Judge: Daniel G. Brookhart For Appellant: Captain David D. Hamstra (argued); Colonel Michael C. Friess, Lieutenant Colonel Angela D. Swilley, Major Christian E. DeLuke, and Captain Paul T. Shirk (on brief). For Appellee: Captain Anthony A. Contrada (argued); Colo- nel Steven P. Haight, Lieutenant Colonel Wayne H. Wil- liams, and Major Brett A. Cramer (on brief). Judge MAGGS delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Chief Judge STUCKY, and Judges OHLSON, SPARKS, and HARDY, joined. Judge HARDY filed a sep- arate concurring opinion. _______________

Judge MAGGS delivered the opinion of the Court. At a special court-martial, Appellant pleaded guilty to one specification of disobeying a lawful general regulation and one specification of larceny in violation of Articles 92 and 121 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), 10 U.S.C. §§ 892, 921 (2018). The specification of larceny alleged that Appellant stole gasoline from the General Services Administration (GSA). On appeal to the United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals (ACCA), Appellant argued that his plea to this specification was improvident because the GSA did not own the gasoline that he was charged with stealing. United States v. Castro, No. ARMY 2019408, 2020 LEXIS 282, at *1–2, 2020 WL 5039253, at *1 (A. Ct. Crim. App. Aug. 25, 2020) (unpublished). The ACCA rejected this argument, United States v. Castro, No. 21-0017/AR Opinion of the Court

relying on our decisions in United States v. Williams, 75 M.J. 129 (C.A.A.F. 2016), and United States v. Cimball Sharpton, 73 M.J. 299 (C.A.A.F. 2014). 2020 CCA LEXIS 282, at *4–8, 2020 WL 5039253, at *2–3. Having reviewed the issue,1 we agree with the ACCA and affirm its judgment. I. Background

Pursuant to a pretrial agreement, Appellant pleaded guilty to a specification alleging a violation of Article 121, UCMJ: In that Sergeant Clovis H. Castro, U.S. Army, did, at or near Fort Lee, Virginia, at or near Petersburg, Virginia [and other listed locations] on one or more occasions, between on or about 29 January 2018, and on or about 18 August 2018, steal gas of a value less than $500, the property of the General Services Ad- ministration. According to the parties’ detailed stipulation of fact, the GSA is a federal agency that leases vehicles to Army units. For each vehicle leased, the GSA issues a “fuel card” that can be used to pay for fuel for the vehicle and to perform minor maintenance, such as oil changes, on the vehicle. Appellant obtained access to GSA fuel cards and, without authority, used them to fill his personal vehicle with gasoline at various gas stations. The parties further stipulated that “purchase of fuel with a GSA fuel card required GSA to pay the cost of the fuel to the vendor.” Accordingly, the GSA paid the gas sta- tions directly for the fuel that Appellant purchased. The parties also stipulated: The Accused admits that the fuel was the property of the General Services Administration. The Accused admits that the value of the fuel he stole from GSA did not exceed $500 for any single transaction and that the fuel was of some value. The Accused admits that at all times he had the intent to permanently de- prive the General Services Administration of the fuel. The Accused admits that at no time did he have au- thorization to spend GSA funds to purchase fuel for

1 The assigned issue is: “Whether the military judge abused his discretion in accepting Appellant’s guilty plea to Specification 1 of Charge II (‘steal gas, of a value less than $500, the property of the General Services Administration’).”

2 United States v. Castro, No. 21-0017/AR Opinion of the Court

his personal vehicle. The Accused had no lawful pur- pose or excuse for stealing the fuel, and could have avoided doing so if he wanted. (Emphasis added.) Before accepting Appellant’s guilty plea, the military judge asked Appellant to describe how GSA fuel cards are used. Appellant explained: [Y]ou would swipe it in the slot of the fuel pump, sort of like you would do a regular credit card or debit card. Once you do that, it will prompt you [with] sev- eral questions. The first question it will prompt you [with] is to give them the number in the front of the card that’s associated to the vehicle, the second question, would prompt you to put a mileage, and the final question, would be to select the fuel type. The military judge informed Appellant that the “owner” of the gasoline referred to “any person, or entity who at the time of the obtaining or taking has a greater right to possession than you did in light of all the conflicting interests” and that “[p]roperty belongs to a person or entity having greater right to possession than you.”2 The military judge then specifically questioned Appellant about the ownership of the gasoline. The inquiry went as follows: MJ: So you understood that [the GSA] would be re- sponsible for paying for the fuel as the credit card holder? ACC: Yes, Your Honor. MJ: So, would you agree then that whatever you purchased with that card, that GSA card, that GSA would personally own that? ACC: Yes, Your Honor. MJ: So you agree and admit that as soon as the transaction was complete you ran the card through and you put those numbers in that fuel belonged to the GSA? ACC: Yes, Your Honor.

2 Appellant did not challenge this definition of ownership at trial and does not question it on appeal. See United States v. Turner, 27 M.J. 217, 221 (C.M.A. 1988) (defining ownership for the purpose of a larceny offense as a “superior right to possession”).

3 United States v. Castro, No. 21-0017/AR Opinion of the Court

.... MJ: So, do you agree and admit that by inputting that code associate[ed] with the card, and the mile- age and putting that gasoline in your vehicle; you thereby stole the gasoline belonging to the GSA? ACC: Yes, Your Honor. In addition, Appellant confirmed that he “intended to keep and use the gasoline” that he had stolen. The military judge accepted the guilty plea. On appeal, the ACCA affirmed. Castro, 2020 LEXIS 282, at *8, 2020 WL 5039253, at *3. II. Standard of Review

During a guilty plea inquiry, the military judge must de- termine “whether there is an adequate basis in law and fact to support the plea before accepting it.” United States v. Ina- binette, 66 M.J. 320, 322 (C.A.A.F. 2008) (citing United States v. Prater, 32 M.J. 433, 436 (C.M.A. 1991)). This Court reviews “[a] military judge’s decision to accept a guilty plea for an abuse of discretion.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted) (citation omitted). In so doing, this Court applies “the sub- stantial basis test, looking at whether there is something in the record of trial, with regard to the factual basis or the law, that would raise a substantial question regarding the appel- lant’s guilty plea.” Id. In reviewing the parties’ arguments, we must accept all of the facts in the parties’ stipulation as true. See United States v. Nance, 67 M.J. 362, 363 (C.A.A.F. 2009). “Unless properly withdrawn or ordered stricken from the rec- ord, a stipulation of fact that has been accepted is binding on the court-martial and may not be contradicted by the parties thereto.” Rule for Courts-Martial (R.C.M.) 811(e). III. Discussion

Article 121(a)(1), UCMJ, defines the offense of larceny as follows: (a) Any person subject to this chapter who wrong- fully takes, obtains, or withholds, by any means, from the possession of the owner or of any other per- son any money, personal property, or article of value of any kind—

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United States v. Castro, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-castro-armfor-2021.