United States v. Fulton

52 M.J. 767, 2000 CCA LEXIS 43, 2000 WL 283498
CourtUnited States Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals
DecidedFebruary 4, 2000
DocketACM 33568
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 52 M.J. 767 (United States v. Fulton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Air Force 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. Fulton, 52 M.J. 767, 2000 CCA LEXIS 43, 2000 WL 283498 (afcca 2000).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

SPISAK, Senior Judge:

A military judge convicted the appellant, in accordance with his pleas, of assault with a dangerous weapon and willfully discharging a firearm. Articles 128 and 184, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. §§ 928, 934. His approved sentence consists of a bad-conduct discharge, confinement for 20 months, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and reduction to E-l.

The appellant raises but one error for our consideration. He complains that the military judge erred when he denied the appellant’s motion to dismiss the charges against him. He contends that the treatment he received while in pretrial confinement violated his rights under the United States Constitution, Article 13, UCMJ, Rule for Courts-Martial (R.C.M.) 304(f) and was so egregious that it warranted dismissal of the charges. We find no error and approve the findings and sentence.

I. FACTS

After his apprehension for firing a 9-mil-limeter handgun at a car in the parking lot of an off-base restaurant near Sheppard Air Force Base (AFB), Texas, the appellant was placed in pretrial confinement at Dyess AFB, Texas. At trial, the appellant moved to dismiss the charges. He argued that he had been subjected to cruel and unusual pretrial punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution, Articles 13 and 55, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. §§ 813 and 855, R.C.M. 304(f), as well as an Air Force instruction and a Department of Defense directive. ■

The parties entered into an unusual stipulation of expected testimony that outlined what some 11 potential witnesses would say if called to testify about the appellant’s pretrial confinement. Included among these potential witnesses were MSgt Mazurek, SrA Sherbert, SrA Moreland, and SrA Goins, all members of the corrections staff at Dyess AFB during the appellant’s confinement. The witnesses would have testified that these staff members ordered the appellant: To refer to himself only as “Prisoner Bitch” or “Prisoner Jackass”; to strip naked in a public area; to do a strip-tease-like dance while naked; to threaten another prisoner with forcible sodomy; and, not to tell anyone about the treatment he received in confinement. These same witnesses would have testified that they and other corrections staff members: Tied the appellant’s clothes into knots and threw them across the room; questioned the appellant about his sexual preferences in very graphic and offensive terms; threatened to tell the appellant’s girlfriend that he had “turned queer”; threatened to have sexual relations with the appellant’s girlfriend; threatened the appellant with forcible sodomy; ordered other prisoners to spit in one another’s food; questioned the appellant about his offenses without advisement of his rights under Article 31, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 831; told the appellant that they qould take his life anytime they chose; repeatedly jumbled the interior of the appellant’s cell after he had cleaned and organized it as required; frequently woke the appellant after lights out; and, sprayed the appellant with the contents of a Windex bottle.

In addition to the stipulated testimony, trial defence counsel called Lt Col Wayne Milgrim, Director of Air Force Corrections, to testify about the pretrial confinement conditions imposed on the appellant. Lt Col Milgrim testified that the actions of the corrections staff noted above, were “beyond anything [he had] seen in twenty-seven total years of police work.”

[769]*769II. AUTHORITY OF A MILITARY JUDGE TO DISMISS CHARGES

When the military judge denied the motion to dismiss the charges, he concluded that “[t]he Manual for Court[s-]Martial does not authorize dismissal as a remedy for illegal pretrial confinement.” Appellate defense counsel challenge this finding and assert that “trial judges are empowered to dismiss charges in cases when it is in the interest of justice.”

The military judge apparently based his decision on the language of R.C.M. 907, which lists specific grounds for dismissal. That rule sets out nonwaivable and waivable grounds for dismissal. One of the waivable grounds is that prosecution is barred by “[pjrior punishment under Articles 13 or 15 for the same offense, if that offense was minor.” R.C.M. 907(b)(2)(D)(iv). Nothing in the rule asserts that serious offenses may be dismissed because of violations of Article 13. This omission, no doubt, led to the military judge’s conclusion that there was no authority in the Manual for dismissal in this case. However, appellate defense counsel ask that we consider the remarks of our superior court in United States v. Nelson, 39 C.M.R. 177, 1969 WL 5941 (C.M.A.1969), and find that the military judge erred in this ruling.

In Nelson, the Court of Military Appeals (CMA), now the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (USCAAF), found that Nelson had been subjected to punishment in violation of Article 13 because he was required to wear the same uniform and perform the same duties as convicted prisoners. Although they found that setting aside his punitive discharge was adequate relief in that case, the court said that dismissal of the charges “is not deemed appropriate under these circumstances.” Nelson, 39 C.M.R. at 181. Thus, the appellant contends that, although the court did not then and has not since taken the drastic action of dismissing charges because an appellant suffered illegal pretrial punishment, it did acknowledge that it may be appropriate to do so in the right ease.

The appellant also contends that other cases, not related to pretrial punishment, demonstrate that trial judges are not limited to the specific reasons for dismissal outlined in R.C.M. 907. For instance, he points out that in United States v. Plumb, 47 M.J. 771 (A.F.Ct.Crim.App.1997), this court dismissed charges after finding unlawful command influence that prejudiced the appellant’s substantial rights. Finally, the appellant argues that other cases involving pretrial punishment indicate that military judges are empowered to fashion appropriate relief beyond what is set forth in the Manual for Courts-Martial. See, United States v. Suzuki, 14 M.J. 491 (C.M.A.1983) (appropriate for military judge to order two-for-one credit for illegal pretrial confinement even though Manual provided no such remedy.) We agree. Although R.C.M. 907 sets forth “grounds for dismissal,” there is nothing in the rule itself or in existing case law that indicates that this is an exhaustive or all-inclusive list.

However, it does not necessarily follow that dismissal is the appropriate remedy. Dismissal is not necessarily appropriate even where an appellant has been denied a significant constitutional right. Even in cases of severe infringement on the right to counsel, the Supreme Court has “implicitly recognized the necessity for preserving society’s interest in the administration of criminal justice [and] that remedies should be tailored to the injury suffered from the constitutional violation and should not unnecessarily infringe on competing interests.” United States v. Morrison, 449 U.S. 361, 364, 101 S.Ct.

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55 M.J. 88 (Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, 2001)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
52 M.J. 767, 2000 CCA LEXIS 43, 2000 WL 283498, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-fulton-afcca-2000.