United States v. Dixon

17 C.M.A. 423, 17 USCMA 423, 38 C.M.R. 221, 1968 CMA LEXIS 316, 1968 WL 5371
CourtUnited States Court of Military Appeals
DecidedMarch 1, 1968
DocketNo. 20,499
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 17 C.M.A. 423 (United States v. Dixon) 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. Dixon, 17 C.M.A. 423, 17 USCMA 423, 38 C.M.R. 221, 1968 CMA LEXIS 316, 1968 WL 5371 (cma 1968).

Opinion

Opinion of the Court

Ferguson, Judge:

Accused was arraigned and tried before a general court-martial convened at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, upon two counts of adultery, four of occupying a motel room for immoral purposes, in violation of a Georgia statute, and six specifications alleging violations of interstate transportation of a woman for immoral purposes, all in contravention of Uniform Code of Military Justice, Article 134, 10 USC § 934. Four specifications regarding interstate transportation were dismissed on motion of the defense. The accused was acquitted of the remaining two and, in fact, convicted only of a single count of adultery and occupying a motel room for an immoral purpose. He was sentenced to be dismissed from the service and to forfeit all pay and allowances. Intermediate appellate authorities have affirmed, and we granted accused’s petition for review upon a number of assignments, some of which will be hereinafter discussed.

[424]*424I

A lengthy trial led to the accused’s conviction of violating Georgia Code Annotated, Title 52, section 52-9907, by occupying a motel room with Cynthia Bond Huff for the immoral purpose of illicit sexual intercourse, from October 29, 1965, until October 31, 1965. In addition, he was convicted of adultery with the same woman at divers times between January 22, 1966, and June 3, 1966, he then being married.

We need not detail all the testimonial background of the case, particularly in light of accused’s acquittal of numerous other allegations against him. Some recitation of the facts, however, is necessary to place the matter in proper perspective.

Cynthia Louise Stover Bond Huff, a college professor several years older than the accused, divorced her first husband some years ago and, in 1959, married her second husband, a dentist, in Mississippi. They, however, did not live together, Mrs. Huff pursuing her academic career in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and her husband practicing in Mississippi. They met only occasionally. She continued to be known in Fayetteville as Mrs. Bond, and, as such, she was introduced to Captain Dixon in the fall of 1964. She alleges, however, that she immediately made known her status as Mrs. Huff to him. They became intimate friends, and a meretricious relationship quickly developed. Mrs. Huff became pregnant and gave birth to an infant daughter in September 1965. According to her, accused had promised her marriage and assisted her financially in obtaining a divorce from Dr. Huff in November 1965, at Meridian, Mississippi. Accused had also been previously married, and she understood the delay in their intended union was only in order to obtain a copy of the annulment order ending his marriage. On her return from Meridian, however, accused told her he was going to marry another woman, to whom he had been engaged for some time, and Mrs. Huff began a vigorous campaign to force him to marry her, commencing with complaints to Army authorities in an effort to bring pressure to bear on him.

On January 21, 1966, accused married his sweetheart at Fayetteville. Mrs. Huff’s complaints to Dixon’s Army superiors continued, with, as she testified, the freely admitted purpose “to get his scalp.” According to her testimony, she also continued as his mistress, despite his knowledge of her efforts to have him prosecuted. Indeed, the specification of adultery on which he was convicted is based upon her allegation of numerous relations between them, starting the day after his wedding and extending to the date of preference of charges against him.

It is also only fair to state that Mrs. Huff’s testimony is fraught with inconsistencies and venomous in its intensity. ' Having admitted “I was going to get his scalp,’’she defined that phrase literally by ■ explaining “[w]hat I meant was I was going to kill him.” Admitting she had listed Dr. Huff as the father of her child, she persistently charged the accused with its paternity, but conceded her efforts to take civil legal action against accused had been to no avail.

Captain Dixon, testifying in his own defense, declared that he met and dated Mrs. Huff as Mrs. Bond. He was unaware that she was still married until October 31, 1965, when she announced that she intended to secure a divorce. Conceding an earlier meretricious relationship with her, he denied that they thereafter engaged in any sexual relationship. They continued to see each other and both attempted outwardly to mix with friends and conceal their differences. After Mrs. Huff obtained her divorce, she became openly hostile toward him, complaining to the authorities and, in general, seeking an acknowledgment of paternity and support from him. He denied these allegations and advised her to let the civil courts settle the matter.

Captain Dixon categorically denied sexual relations with Mrs. Huff after his marriage on January 21. She persisted in calling him, and he visited her on several occasions in an attempt to placate her and eliminate the embar[425]*425rassment resulting from her complaints to the military. Alibi witnesses and business records from clubs in which the accused played as a professional musician were produced to substantiate his denial of connections with Mrs. Huff on the dates alleged by her. In addition, considerable evidence was adduced as to his excellent character and outstanding efficiency as an officer.

Another witness testified to threats made against accused by Mrs. Huff and her determination to prevent his marriage “or have the Army stop it” and “to kill him if he didn’t marry her.”

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the court-martial was presented with close, factual questions, to be assessed in light of the obvious bias of the prosecutrix, the impeachment of her testimony, and the contrary version presented by the accused, supported, as it was, by an array of witnesses as to his good character, alibi, and the hostility to him of a woman allegedly scorned. It is in light of this background that we consider the assignments of error.

II

The first issue inquires whether the law officer erred prejudicially in failing, sua sponte, to instruct the court regarding evidence of other misconduct adduced during the testimony of Mrs. Huff. In this connection, specific reference is made to a portion of her cross-examination during which she was confronted with a pretrial statement in which, contrary to her in-eourt testimony, she denied having relations with the accused on September 11, 1965. She “explained” the apparent inconsistency by declaring her pretrial statement referred to normal relations while her opposite testimony in court referred to commission by the accused of an act of sodomy with her. No limiting instruction was given either as to the findings or sentence.

We have repeatedly declared an instruction as to the limited purpose for which evidence of other misconduct may be considered is required to be given by the law officer. United States v Conrad, 15 USCMA 439, 35 CMR 411; United States v Back, 13 USCMA 568, 33 CMR 100; United States v Hoy, 12 USCMA 554, 31 CMR 140; United States v Bryant, 12 USCMA 111, 30 CMR 111. Indeed, in Bryant, supra, the " Chief Judge declared, for the Court, that “the instruction is a necessary concomitant of such evidence.” Id., at page 115. And we have likewise stated that it matters not whether the evidence was adduced by the prosecution or defense or, as here, came as a matter unexpectedly volunteered by the witness.

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17 C.M.A. 423, 17 USCMA 423, 38 C.M.R. 221, 1968 CMA LEXIS 316, 1968 WL 5371, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-dixon-cma-1968.