United States v. Dingwell

1 M.J. 594, 1975 CMR LEXIS 760
CourtU.S. Army Court of Military Review
DecidedJuly 30, 1975
DocketCM 431946
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 1 M.J. 594 (United States v. Dingwell) 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. Dingwell, 1 M.J. 594, 1975 CMR LEXIS 760 (usarmymilrev 1975).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

O’DONNELL, Judge:

Contrary to his pleas, the appellant was convicted of wrongfully possessing heroin in violation of Article 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. § 934. He was sentenced to be discharged from the service with a bad-conduct discharge, to forfeit all pay and allowances, and to be confined at hard labor for six months. The convening authority approved the sentence as adjudged.

The appellant contends before us, as he did at trial, that the heroin was the subject of an illegal search and seizure and therefore inadmissible. The military judge denied the defense motion to suppress evidence of the heroin, holding that the search was legal on the basis of military necessity. We reverse.

On 25 October 1973, the appellant boarded an Air Force medical evacuation flight at the Louisville airport. The flight originated at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, with a scheduled destination of Detroit, Michigan, with intermediate stops at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; Louisville, Kentucky; and Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The ultimate destination of the appellant, who was a drug addict, was the Veterans’ Administration hospital in Detroit.

Staff Sergeant David Shorb, United States Air Force, was the senior enlisted medical attendant for the flight. Sometime during the flight from Louisville to Fort Campbell, Sergeant Shorb observed the appellant go into the latrine, carrying his shaving kit and remain there for 15-20 minutes. Sergeant Shorb felt this was unusual and testified that he had never before seen anybody enter a latrine on board a military aircraft carrying a shaving kit. Sometime later, as the “Fasten Seat Belt” sign came on preliminary to the airplane’s landing at Fort Campbell, Sergeant Shorb noticed the appellant light up a cigarette and share it with the passenger in the seat next to him. Sergeant Shorb found this behavior to be suspicious. His suspicions were heightened when, about a minute and a half after he first observed the appellant smoking, he detected a sweet odor which he believed to be marijuana. Although Sergeant Shorb testified that he had never attended any course dealing with drug detection, he had smelled marijuana at rock concerts.

At this point, Sergeant Shorb called his supervisor, First Lieutenant Paula Sturgeon, United States Air Force, on the intercom, and told her that he suspected the appellant “probably has some kind of drug, because it smells that way.” As the aircraft was then beginning its descent for the Fort Campbell landing, Sergeant Shorb indicated that he would talk to Lieutenant Sturgeon after landing. When the plane landed, he went directly to Lieutenant Sturgeon, informed her of his previous observations, and told her he suspected the appellant of smoking marijuana.

Lieutenant Sturgeon was the medical crew director on board the flight. In her testimony she corroborated Sergeant Shorb’s testimony in substantial detail concerning the information relayed to her about the appellant’s activities. After receiving the information from Sergeant Shorb, Lieutenant Sturgeon, according to her testimony, went to the aircraft commander, First Lieutenant Thomas McCoy, and reported to him exactly what Sergeant Shorb had told her. Lieutenant Sturgeon stated that she did not personally know Sergeant Shorb but she considered him to be reliable in the performance of his duties as a medical flight attendant. As to Ser[596]*596geant Shorb’s reliability in being able to detect the odor of marijuana, Lieutenant Sturgeon stated that she “had no reason to question him,” so she didn’t. Finally, Lieutenant Sturgeon testified that she herself did not smell marijuana on the flight, although she had undergone training in the detection of marijuana odors. Her seat on the aircraft, however, was located at some distance from that of the appellant.

Lieutenant McCoy, United States Air Force, the aircraft commander, also testified. He stated essentially that when the aircraft landed at Fort Campbell, Lieutenant Sturgeon informed him that Sergeant Shorb suspected two passengers in the back of the aircraft of smoking marijuana. The conversation with Lieutenant Sturgeon took 10-15 seconds. Lieutenant McCoy first directed that none of the passengers leave the aircraft and then proceeded to Flight Operations at Fort Campbell where he telephoned his home base for guidance. Following the call, he notified the military police at Fort Campbell, informed them that he suspected two persons of smoking marijuana, and requested that they be searched by the military policemen.1 The search was conducted but no contraband was discovered.2

Lieutenant McCoy also directed that a search be conducted of that area of the aircraft occupied by the persons who were searched. As a result of this search, which was conducted by the aircraft personnel, a shaving kit was discovered by Sergeant Shorb in the pocket located on the rear of the seat in front of the seat occupied by the appellant. The shaving kit was opened, revealing, among other personal items, a pair of sandals, one of which was torn. Located in the opening was a small packet containing a white powder. A laboratory analysis determined the powder to be heroin.

Two primary issues are presented for our consideration — standing and the legality of the search.

I — STANDING

The Government first contends that the appellant lacked standing to contest the legality of the search. The Government’s position is essentially twofold: (1) As the appellant did not testify on the motion to suppress, he has not established by testimony or otherwise that he had a possessory interest in the thing seized; (2) The appellant has no standing to object to a search of a Government aircraft.

It is well-recognized that to contest the legality of a search, a person must have standing, i. e., he must be the person aggrieved by the purportedly unlawful search. See Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 80 S.Ct. 725, 4 L.Ed.2d 697 (1960). The Supreme Court provided in Jones that a person has automatic standing in those cases, such as the instant one, where possession of the thing seized is an essential element of the crime. Id. at 264, 80 S.Ct. 725. Jones also provided that a person has standing to contest the validity of a search when he is legitimately on the premises at the time of the search. 362 U.S. at 265, 80 S.Ct. 725.

The Government’s position in the instant case is that the Supreme Court in Simmons v. United States, 390 U.S. 377, 88 S.Ct. 967, 19 L.Ed.2d 1247 (1968), abandoned the concept of automatic standing and that in any event the Jones rationale is inapplicable to a search of military property. We reject [597]*597the Government’s argument that Simmons effectively overruled Jones. See Brown v. United States, 411 U.S. 223, 228, 93 S.Ct. 1565, 36 L.Ed.2d 208 (1972); United States v. Simmons, 22 U.S.C.M.A. 288, 291, 46 C.M.R. 288, 291 (1973) at footnote 5.

The Court of Military Appeals has also addressed the question of standing to contest the validity of a search. In United States v. Aloyian, 16 U.S.C.M.A.

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Bluebook (online)
1 M.J. 594, 1975 CMR LEXIS 760, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-dingwell-usarmymilrev-1975.