United States v. Edmond

37 M.J. 787, 1993 CMR LEXIS 254, 1993 WL 225685
CourtU S Coast Guard Court of Military Review
DecidedJune 25, 1993
DocketCGCM 0063; Docket No. 999
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 37 M.J. 787 (United States v. Edmond) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U S Coast Guard 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. Edmond, 37 M.J. 787, 1993 CMR LEXIS 254, 1993 WL 225685 (cgcomilrev 1993).

Opinion

EDWARDS, Judge:

Contrary to his pleas, Appellant was convicted by officer and enlisted members of being an accessory after the fact to an attempted sodomy committed by a shipmate, committing an indecent act with a different shipmate., and dishonorably failing to maintain sufficient funds in his checking account to honor each of three [789]*789personal checks, in violation of Articles 78 and 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice [hereinafter UCMJ], 10 U.S.C. §§ 878 and 934 (Supp. II 1990). The convening authority approved the adjudged sentence of reduction to pay grade E-l, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, confinement for one year, and a bad conduct discharge.

Appellant submits ten assignments of error, six of which merit discussion. Those six follow: Assignment I asserts that the Military Judge erred in not dismissing all charges with prejudice for lack of a speedy trial. Assignment II asserts that the Military Judge erred in denying a defense motion which sought his disqualification. Assignment III asserts that the Military Judge erred in refusing to dismiss Additional Charge V and its specification (indecent act with another), when it was multiplicious for pleading purposes with Additional Charge III and its specification (indecent assault). Assignment IV asserts that the three specifications of failing to maintain sufficient funds fail to state offenses. Assignment V asserts that the Military Judge erred in admitting irrelevant evidence of the post-offense status of Appellant’s checking account. Assignment VI asserts that the evidence was not sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Appellant was guilty of dishonorably failing to maintain sufficient funds in his checking account.

The case having been fully briefed and argued, we now affirm.

I.

FACTS

The most serious charges arose from an incident which occurred on 1 March 1990. Appellant was assigned to USCGC HAMILTON (WHEC-715), which was undergoing a period of yard availability in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A going-away party was held in a local motel for one of Appellant’s shipmates who was being transferred. During the party, Seaman (SN) L, a woman who served with Appellant in the cutter’s deck force, consumed so much alcohol that she became quite ill. Several of the party-goers, including Appellant, took advantage of SN L’s inebriated and sickened condition to engage in acts of sexual misconduct. Ultimately, the incident came to the attention of Coast Guard authorities, was investigated, and led to charges. Following dismissal of most of the charges by the Military Judge at the initial session of Appellant’s trial, see Part II infra, Appellant issued three personal checks which were dishonored and thereafter served as the basis for an additional charge when the trial reconvened.

II.

SPEEDY TRIAL

Charges under Articles 81, 107, 120, 125, and 134, UCMJ, initially were preferred against Appellant on 25 June 1991, and he was informed of them on 5 July 1991. See Rules for Courts-Martial [hereinafter R.C.M.] 308. No pretrial restraint, R.C.M. 304, was imposed. An additional charge under Article 78, UCMJ, containing two specifications, was preferred on 18 November 1991. An Article 32, UCMJ, hearing was conducted on 18 and 19 November 1991. Thereafter, the Convening Authority referred charges under Articles 78, 81,107, and 134, UCMJ, to a general court-martial. Trial commenced on 18 December 1991. Prior to arraignment,1 Appellant moved to [790]*790dismiss all of the charges on the basis of denial of his right to a speedy trial.

In his Essential Findings and Ruling on Speedy Trial Motion, dated 21 December 1991, the Military Judge found the government accountable for 161 days of the 176 days which had elapsed since charges originally had been preferred on 25 June 1991. Accordingly, he also found that the government had violated R.C.M. 707(a)(1), which provides that an accused is to be brought to trial within 120 days of the preferral of charges. He did not find a violation of Appellant’s right to a speedy trial under either the Sixth Amendment to the Federal Constitution or Article 10, UCMJ. Pursuant to R.C.M. 707(d), the Military Judge dismissed the charges preferred on 25 June 1991 (Articles 81, 107, 120, 125, and 134, UCMJ), without prejudice to the government’s right to reinstitute proceedings against Appellant for the same offenses. He denied that portion of the motion seeking dismissal of the additional charge under Article 78, UCMJ.

Appellant argues first that the Military Judge should have dismissed the additional charge under Article 78, UCMJ, because the government had the information necessary to prefer that charge when he was charged with the other offenses on 21 June 1991. Appellant cites United States v. Boden, 21 M.J. 916 (A.C.M.R.1986), and United States v. Honican, 27 M.J. 590 (A.C.M.R.1988), in support of his position. Both Boden and Honican are inapposite. In each, the accused was in pretrial confinement for other offenses when an additional charge was preferred. Under the version of R.C.M. 707(d) then in effect and United States v. Burton, 21 U.S.C.M.A. 112, 44 C.M.R. 166 (1971), the Army Court of Military Review held that, as a consequence of being in pretrial confinement, the 90-day period for bringing the accused to trial on the additional charge began when the government possessed “substantial information on which to base preferral of that charge.” United States v. Boden, 21 M.J. at 918. Unlike either of the accused in Boden and Honican, Appellant in this case never was placed in pretrial confinement. Accordingly, the condition predicate for starting the speedy trial clock, i.e., substantial information while Appellant was in pretrial confinement, never was satisfied.

Appellant next contends that, in dismissing the 21 June 1991 charges without prejudice, rather than with prejudice, the Military Judge abused his discretion because he did not weigh properly the factors listed in R.C.M. 707(d). Appellant also contends that, in any event, the lack of a speedy trial violated his Sixth Amendment rights.

Both the government and Appellant agree that the current version of R.C.M. 707 applies. It was included in Executive Order 12767 issued by the President on 27 June 1991 and published at 56 Fed.Reg. 30284, which subsequently was published as Change No. 5 to the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States 1984 [hereinafter MCM] on 15 November 1991. Section 4.d. of the Executive Order provides that the amended R.C.M. 707 was to apply “only to cases in which arraignment occurs on or after 6 July 1991.” As arraignment oc[791]*791curred on 23 March 1992, see n. 1 supra, we also agree that the current version applies.

R.C.M. 707(d) now provides:

Remedy. A failure to comply with the right to a speedy trial will result in dismissal of the affected charges. This dismissal will be with or without prejudice to the government’s right to reinstitute court-martial proceedings against the accused for the same offense at a later date. The charges must be dismissed with prejudice where the accused has been deprived of his or her constitutional right to a speedy trial.

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Related

United States v. Daly
69 M.J. 549 (U S Coast Guard Court of Criminal Appeals, 2010)
United States v. Edmond
41 M.J. 419 (Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, 1995)
United States v. Thomas
39 M.J. 1078 (U S Coast Guard Court of Military Review, 1994)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
37 M.J. 787, 1993 CMR LEXIS 254, 1993 WL 225685, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-edmond-cgcomilrev-1993.