United States v. Frederick

3 M.J. 230, 1977 CMA LEXIS 9463
CourtUnited States Court of Military Appeals
DecidedJuly 25, 1977
DocketNo. 32,159; NCM 74-2576
StatusPublished
Cited by79 cases

This text of 3 M.J. 230 (United States v. Frederick) 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. Frederick, 3 M.J. 230, 1977 CMA LEXIS 9463 (cma 1977).

Opinion

Opinion of the Court

COOK, Judge:

The appellant was tried by a general court-martial and contrary to his plea was convicted of unpremeditated murder, in violation of Article 118, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. § 918. He was sentenced to a dishonorable discharge, confinement at hard labor for 75 years, total forfeitures, and reduction to the lowest enlisted grade. The findings and sentence were approved by the convening authority, and his action was affirmed by the United States Navy Court of Military Review.

During an Article 39(a)1 session, the defense counsel submitted a motion for the engagement of a civilian psychiatrist at Government expense. See United States v. Johnson, 22 U.S.C.M.A. 424, 47 C.M.R. 402 (1973). The motion was denied, but because the evidence raised a possible issue of insanity, the military judge, with the concurrence of the defense, ordered a psychiatric evaluation of the appellant by a military sanity board. See paragraph 122, Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, 1969 (Revised edition). A written order was issued from the court which required that, at the board examinations, Article 312 warnings be given to appellant, that the defense counsel be allowed to be present,3 and that [232]*232the contents of the report be kept from the Government. In due course, the psychiatric board submitted its report to the military judge. On reviewing it, he perceived what he believed was an ambiguity; specifically, although the board members found the appellant had been unable to adhere to the right at the time of the offense, they nonetheless classified his mental condition as a personality disorder, which the judge regarded as a condition incapable of producing an inability to adhere to the right. The judge indicated that he would require another psychiatric examination if the defense actually raised insanity as an issue. Defense counsel declared that he proposed to raise such an issue and over counsel’s objection, the judge ordered another examination and further ruled that if the defense called a psychiatrist as a defense witness, the Government would be given access to any psychiatric reports the witness may have previously prepared.

No expert testimony as to appellant’s mental condition at the time of the offense was introduced by the prosecution. However, the defense presented the testimony of the two psychiatrists on the board which had examined the appellant pursuant to the first court order and, in rebuttal, the Government called the psychiatrist who participated in the second examination. We have granted review to consider the following questions:

I. Whether the military judge erred by requiring the appellant to submit to a second psychiatric examination.
II. Whether the testimony of the psychiatrists violated the appellant’s right against self-incrimination as provided by Article 31, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 831.
III. Whether the trial court erred by evaluating the appellant’s mental responsibility under the standards set forth in paragraph 120b, MCM.

ín United States v. Babbidge, 18 U.S.C.M.A. 327, 40 C.M.R. 39 (1969), the Court held that an accused could be required to submit to a psychiatric examination as a condition precedent to the admission of , defense evidence on the issue.4 The appellant submits that Babbidge precludes subjection of an accused to more than one psychiatric examination. The argument is founded on a misconstruction of the intent and purpose of Babbidge. Underlying the holding in Babbidge was the recognized fact that the defense of insanity occupied a preferred status in military law and the defense was unique in that a complete inquiry into the matter necessarily required an examination of an accused’s mental processes, which, in turn, required a psychiatric interrogation. Thus, the Court would not permit an accused to raise the issue of insanity predicated upon a psychiatrist’s opinion which was based upon an accused’s voluntary statements, and then refuse to submit himself to a similar examination by a Government witness.

Contrary to the appellant’s argument, Babbidge did not limit the number of psychiatric examinations. Indeed, its rationale emphasized the prevention or frustration of a search for the truth by a defense maneuver which this Court described as “ ‘a travesty on justice,’ ” or “ ‘an absurdity’ ” and declared that it “ ‘violate[s] judicial common sense.’ ” Id. at 332, 40 C.M.R. at 44. Subsequently, in Lozinski v. Wetherill, 21 U.S.C.M.A. 52, 44 C.M.R. 106 (1971), the Court specifically held that an additional pretrial psychiatric examination was appropriate where the convening authority was faced with conflicting psychiatric reports. See United States v. Erb, 12 U.S.C.M.A. 524, 31 C.M.R. 110 (1961); paragraph 121, MCM. The original examination in the present case produced a possible ambiguity. Under the circumstances, the question of [233]*233whether another examination was necessary was a matter within the discretion of the military judge, and we find nothing inconsistent with the Court’s opinion in Babbidge.

The appellant testified in his defense and stated he became involved in an intimate relationship with a friend’s wife, the victim. He admitted that he had killed her, but contended he was unable to remember all the circumstances of the incident. He recalled that she began to question him about a pending rape charge against him and he became enraged; he placed his hands on her shoulders and began to count because he had been taught that this was a means of controlling his temper. He remembered falling on the victim and then being conscious of a knife in his hands. During cross-examination, the prosecution confronted the appellant with three pretrial statements he had made in which he gave a more detailed account of the incident, including an admission that he had choked the victim, had banged her head against the floor, and after noting she was still breathing, had left the room and returned with a steak knife which he used to stab her.5 Appellant attempted to explain away the specificity of the pretrial statements. He represented that he did not actually remember the manner mentioned in the statements, but recounted them to his investigators because he “thought” they had happened.

Two psychiatrists participated in the original examination of appellant. They were both called as defense witnesses and testified that the appellant was unable to adhere to the right at the time of the offense. On direct examination, defense counsel asked questions which required the psychiatrists to explain the details of their interviews with appellant, including various statements made by him during the interviews. On cross-examination, trial counsel asked various questions as to what effect the three aforementioned pretrial statements had on their opinions, but some of the answers also included comments on the psychiatric interviews. The trial counsel did, however, ask one question directly related to these interviews, i. e., did the appellant indicate in any of the interviews whether he knew it was wrong to kill the victim.

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Bluebook (online)
3 M.J. 230, 1977 CMA LEXIS 9463, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-frederick-cma-1977.