United States v. Falcon

65 M.J. 582, 2006 CCA LEXIS 252
CourtNavy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals
DecidedOctober 10, 2006
DocketNMCCA 220401483
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 65 M.J. 582 (United States v. Falcon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal 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. Falcon, 65 M.J. 582, 2006 CCA LEXIS 252 (N.M. 2006).

Opinion

STONE, Judge:

A military judge, sitting as a special court-martial, convicted the appellant, pursuant to his pleas, of three specifications of making and uttering checks without sufficient funds, and two specifications of opening, secreting, and stealing certain mail matter, in violation of Articles 123a and 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. §§ 923a and 934. The military judge sentenced the appellant to confinement for 11 months, reduction to pay grade E-l, and a bad-conduct discharge. The convening authority approved the sentence as adjudged.

We have carefully reviewed the record of trial, the appellant’s four assignments of error — that the military judge failed to advise the appellant of the Wallace-Allbery “gambler’s defense,” that the post-trial delay in the case substantially prejudiced the appellant, that Specifications 1 and 2 of Charge V are an unreasonable multiplication of charges, and that the staff judge advocate’s recommendation (SJAR) is defective — and the Government’s response. We determine that the appellant is entitled to relief on the findings due to unreasonable multiplication of charges, which we will provide in our decretal paragraph. Otherwise, we conclude that the findings and the sentence are correct m law and fact and that no error materially prejudicial to the substantial rights of the appellant was committed. Arts. 59(a) and 66(c), UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. §§ 859(a) and 866(c).

Statement of Facts

Between April and July 2003, the appellant cashed 43 bad checks totaling $3,100 at two enlisted clubs, “Globe and Anchor” and “Smuggler’s Cove.” Prosecution Exhibit 1 at 2. The appellant knew he did not have sufficient funds to cover these checks, and he used the money to gamble at slot machines located within those facilities. Record at 22-35; PE 1 at 2-3. Although the slot machine areas were located “right next” to the cash cages where the appellant cashed the checks, neither of the payees had any knowledge that the appellant was using the money he received for gambling. Record at 33-34; PE 1 at 3. In fact, the Globe and Anchor and Smuggler’s Cove were used by many patrons as convenient places to cash checks. Record at 34.

In addition, on or about 16 June 2003, the appellant was working as a postal clerk in the Naval Hospital post office, when he saw two packages that appeared to contain DVD’s. Id. at 17. One of the packages was addressed to Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) Deborah J. Shumaker, U.S. Navy, and the other package was addressed to Hospitalman (HN) Sarah J. Haug, U.S. Navy. PE 1 at 4. The appellant opened both packages, took out the numerous DVD’s inside, and hid the DVD’s in a post office safe with the intent of keeping them for himself. Record at 19; PE 1 at 4.

The “Gamblers Defense”

In his first assignment of error, the appellant argues that the military judge erred in accepting his guilty pleas to all specifications under Charge IV, and to the Additional Charge and the specification thereunder. All were “bad check” offenses in violation of Article 123a, UCMJ, where the proceeds from the bad checks were used exclusively for gambling and where the military judge did not advise the appellant of the elements of the Wallace-Allbery “gambler’s defense.” Appellant’s Brief of 29 Dec 2004 at 3-4; see United States v. Wallace, 36 C.M.R. 148, [584]*5841966 WL 4432 (C.M.A.1966); United States v. Allbery, 44 M.J. 226 (C.A.A.F.1996). We disagree. We hold that the “gamblers defense” does not apply to prosecutions for making and uttering bad checks under Article 123a, UCMJ, and, therefore, the military judge was not required to advise the appellant of that defense in determining the providence of his plea of guilty.

As set forth in Wallace, the WallaceAllbery “gamblers defense” (hereinafter simply, “gamblers defense”) stands for the proposition that prosecutions under Article 134 for making and uttering worthless checks in support of gambling transactions cannot be maintained where there is no showing of dishonor in failing to maintain sufficient funds for payment of the check upon its presentment. Wallace, 36 C.M.R. at 149.1 Allbery, which forms the second half of the gamblers defense formal name, stands for the somewhat unrelated proposition that service courts are not free to abandon the policy of non-enforcement of gambling debts established in Wallace. Allbery, 44 M.J. at 228-29. Both Wallace and Allbery were prosecutions for making and uttering worthless checks in violation of Article 134, UCMJ.

The issue of whether the WallaceAllbery gambler’s defense applies to eases prosecuted under Article 123a, UCMJ, has not been addressed by this court or by the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF). Our sister service courts of criminal appeals are divided on the issue. The Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals does not recognize the gamblers defense for Article 123a offenses. United States v. Ewing, 50 M.J. 622, 627-28 (A.F.Ct.Crim.App.1998). The Army Court of Criminal Appeals, on the other hand, applies the gambler’s defense to Article 123a offenses. United States v. Greenlee, 47 M.J. 613 (Army Ct.Crim.App.1997); United States v. Thompson, 47 M.J. 611 (Army Ct.Crim.App.1997); United States v. Green, 44 M.J. 828 (Army Ct.Crim.App.1996). For the reasons set forth below, we agree with the Air Force Court and hold that the Wallace-Allbery gambler’s defense does not apply to offenses prosecuted under Article 123a, UCMJ.

The first reason that we do not apply the gambler’s defense to worthless check offenses prosecuted under Article 123a, UCMJ, is that there is no requirement under Article 123a, UCMJ, that an appellant act with dishonor in failing to maintain sufficient funds on deposit in relation to the check in question. Article 134, UCMJ, on the other hand, requires the accused, after making and uttering a check, to dishonorably fail to maintain sufficient funds in the bank account upon which the cheek was written. See Manual For Courts — Martial, United States (2002 ed.), Part IV, ¶ 68c. As our superior court explained in Wallace, the underlying facts of that case negated any finding of dishonorable conduct by that appellant. In Wallace, the court described a situation where the Board of Governors of the gambling establishment, which was an American military officer’s club, was aware of and also accommodating to the appellant’s habit of writing worthless cheeks to cover his gambling debts. Indeed, the Board of Governors comfortably tolerated Wallace’s behavior “confident, in light of [the] accused’s character, that the club would eventually be paid.” Wallace, 36 C.M.R. at 149. The court, therefore, concluded that where the payee has a tacit understanding with the gambler that worthless checks will be accepted on the understanding that the debt will eventually be satisfied, the accused has not acted with dishonor and therefore cannot be convicted of dishonorably failing to maintain sufficient funds on deposit to meet the payment of the checks upon their presentment in violation of Article 134, UCMJ. The Wallace

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Related

United States v. Falcon
65 M.J. 386 (Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, 2008)

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65 M.J. 582, 2006 CCA LEXIS 252, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-falcon-nmcca-2006.