United States v. Foster

13 M.J. 789, 1982 CMR LEXIS 990
CourtU.S. Army Court of Military Review
DecidedMay 13, 1982
DocketCM 440659
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 13 M.J. 789 (United States v. Foster) 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. Foster, 13 M.J. 789, 1982 CMR LEXIS 990 (usarmymilrev 1982).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

CARNE, Senior Judge:

Contrary to his pleas, the appellant was convicted by a general court-martial with members of one offense of indecent assault upon a female soldier, one offense of taking indecent liberties with a female under sixteen years of age, one offense of assault consummated by a battery upon a female soldier, one offense of assault upon a female soldier, two offenses of housebreaking, and two offenses of window peeping1 in [791]*791violation of Articles 134, 128, 130, and 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. §§ 934, 928, 930, and 934, respectively.2 The convening authority approved the sentence adjudged which provided for a dishonorable discharge, confinement at hard labor for thirty-six months, forfeiture of $334.00 per month for thirty-six months and to be reduced to the grade of Private (E-l).

The appellant assigns four errors in the proceedings as follows:

(1) The evidence is insufficient to support the findings of guilty of the offenses of indecent assault, assault and battery, assault and housebreaking because of inadequate identification of the appellant as the perpetrator.

(2) The military judge erred by refusing to give an instruction on eyewitness identification.

(3) The military judge’s instructions on the window peeping offense were prejudicially erroneous since they: (a) equated the wrongfulness of the peeping with the occupant’s lack of consent and thereby permitted conviction in the absence of a culpable mental state, (b) failed to include mistake of fact which was raised by the defense evidence.

(4) The military judge’s instructions on reasonable doubt were erroneous.

The pertinent evidence with regard to the first and second alleged errors is as follows:

At about 0500 hours, 16 July 1980, Private First Class (PFC) “W” was asleep in her barracks room (Room 308 on the third floor of Building 1011) when she was awakened by a knock on the door. She opened the door and a thin black male, approximately 5'7" in height, wearing a green T-shirt and tan pants entered the room. He closed the door, moved toward her with his arms extended, but she pushed him away and turned on the room light. She then opened the door and pushed him back in the hallway. There was an exit light in the hall by the doorway and she was able to see his face. After he left she sat on the bed momentarily but went out in the hallway when she heard screams coming from down the hall. She saw PFC “S” in the hall and they identified the screams as coming from Room 302. She knocked on the door and the same man ran out in the hall and out of the building. While running away he looked back and she again saw his face by the hallway light. About thirty minutes later while standing by the Charge of Quarters desk a report was received from two barracks mates that the same man was outside the barracks. This was reported to a Sergeant First Class (SFC) “S” and they all went outside Building 1011. PFC “W” saw the man walking across the street and she identified him by his clothing and build as the same man that had been in her room. SFC “S” told the man to stop but he began to run. SFC “S”, PFC “W” and the other female soldiers ran after the man and chased him down the street near Building 1031 where he was apprehended. PFC “W” identified this man as the same man that had been in her barracks room. She was within three feet of him and he had a mustache which she first noticed when he was in her room but she noticed no odor of alcohol. She also made an in-court identification of the appellant as being that same man. She had also made an identification of the appellant without any difficulty, from a photographic lineup about a week [792]*792and a half after the incident. She did not base her subsequent identification solely on the impression of the man as she remembered seeing him when apprehended at Building 1031, although seeing him again assisted her in the identification. She determined it was the same man and she still thought so at the trial based on the way he looked.

At approximately 0510 hours on 16 July 1980, PFC “G” who lived down the hall in Room 302 of the same barracks was asleep when she heard a knock at her door. She got out of bed turned on the light and opened the door. A slim, black male about 5'6" to 5'7" in height, with real short hair was standing there. He was dressed in a green T-shirt, tan pants and tennis shoes. He stated to PFC “G”, “I want you.” He then entered the room and grabbed her, tearing her night shirt. They fell to the floor and he started caressing her breast and crotch area. He also kissed her on the back of her neck. She tried to grab his hair but could not, so she bit him on the hand but she was not sure it was hard enough to leave a mark. At that point someone knocked on the door and he got up and ran out. This entire incident lasted only a minute or two, the lighting was poor, and most of the time the man was behind her, therefore, she did not get a good look at his face. He did not smell of alcohol and she does not remember seeing a mustache. She did not see this man again until the CID lineup. Three separate lineups with some different people were held and she understood she was to pick out someone from each one. Accordingly, she picked out someone she was not sure of but on the last lineup she was certain. However, she could not positively identify the man as being in the courtroom but it is possible that it was the appellant. In her selections at the lineups, she was unsure of the first but did select the appellant after some hesitation, she picked someone other than the appellant at the second, but picked the appellant out with certainty at the third. The main reason for her selection was his build, not his clothes. In the third selection she picked the appellant as the man she was sure was the assailant.

Between 0500-0515 hours on 16 July 1980, PFC “S” was sleeping in her barracks room, Room 304, Building 1011, when she was awakened by the screams of a female in Room 302, next door. She got up and went out into the hall where she saw PFC “W”. Because of the screams PFC “W” knocked on the door to Room 302 and a thin built black man about 5'9" — 5'10" tall with short hair and wearing tan pants, a green shirt and tennis shoes ran out. As he ran out of the room, he struck PFC “S” on the side of her face with his hand. The man departed through an exit door. PFC “S” ran back into her room and telephoned the Charge of Quarters. Shortly thereafter she saw the man get into a gray or silver Honda automobile that was parked in front of the barracks building. Approximately thirty minutes later she was looking out the barracks window and saw the same man, as identified by his clothing and build, walking near the barracks. She immediately ran downstairs and informed SFC “S”. SFC “S” and some other soldiers ran outside and he ordered the person to stop but the man started running toward Building 1031 where he was caught. Based on his clothing and his build, PFC “S” believed the man that was caught was the same man that was in the barracks.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Private First Class GREGORY A. RICE
71 M.J. 709 (Army Court of Criminal Appeals, 2012)
United States v. Weston
66 M.J. 544 (Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals, 2008)
Able v. United States
968 F. Supp. 850 (E.D. New York, 1997)
United States v. McDaniel
39 M.J. 173 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1994)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
13 M.J. 789, 1982 CMR LEXIS 990, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-foster-usarmymilrev-1982.