United States v. Giles

58 M.J. 634, 2003 CCA LEXIS 106, 2003 WL 1922943
CourtNavy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals
DecidedApril 23, 2003
DocketNMCM 9500903
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 58 M.J. 634 (United States v. Giles) 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. Giles, 58 M.J. 634, 2003 CCA LEXIS 106, 2003 WL 1922943 (N.M. 2003).

Opinion

LEO, Chief Judge:

The appellant was first convicted in 1994 at a general court-martial before officer and enlisted members of attempted possession of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and attempted distribution of LSD, in violation of Article 80, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. § 880, and was awarded a bad-conduct discharge and reduction to pay grade E-l. After reviewing the record, we affirmed the findings and the approved sentence. United States v. Giles, No. 9500903, 1996 WL 927698 (N.M.Ct.CrimApp. 8 Aug. 1996)(unpublished decision). Our superior court reversed the decision, holding that the military judge had abused his discretion by denying the defense challenge of a court-martial member for cause. United States v. Giles, 48 M.J. 60, 63 (1998). The findings and sentence were set aside and a rehearing was authorized.

The appellant was retried in 1998 before a special court-martial on the previous charges of attempted possession of LSD with the intent to distribute and distribution of LSD. In addition, a charge of perjury, under Article 131, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 931, was added. Contrary to her pleas, the appellant was convicted by officer and enlisted members of all charges and awarded a bad-conduct discharge. The convening authority approved the adjudged sentence. After examining the record of trial, the assignments of error, and the Government’s response, we conclude that the findings and sentence are correct in law [636]*636and 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).

I. Speedy Trial

The appellant contends that the military judge erred by failing to find that the Government had violated her right to a speedy trial under Rule foe Courts-Martial 707, Manual of Courts-Martial, United States (1998 ed.). We disagree.

In the case of a rehearing, an accused must be brought to trial within 120 days of the time that the convening authority receives both the record of trial and the appellate court decision authorizing or directing a rehearing. R.C.M. 707(b)(3)(D). For speedy trial purposes, an accused is brought to trial upon arraignment. R.C.M. 707(b)(1). The remedy for the Government’s failure to comply with the 120-day rule is dismissal of the affected charges, with or without prejudice. R.C.M. 707(d).

The convening authority in this case received the record and appellate court decision on 4 May 1998. As a result, the appellant had to be brought to trial by 1 September 1998. At the time, she was on appellate leave from her first trial and was living in New Jersey, which required that arrangements be made to recall her to active duty. On 26 August 1998, the convening authority granted the trial counsel’s request for a delay of 30 days that would be excluded from the 120-day requirement to bring the appellant to trial. The appellant was ordered to report to the Transient Personnel Unit, at Naval Station, San Diego, California, by 28 August 1998. She reported a day later, on 29 August, and was immediately served with a copy of the charges. When the Government attempted to arraign the appellant on 1 September, the appellant asserted her right under Article 35, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 835, to a 3-day waiting period once charges are served before she can be brought to trial. As a result, she was not arraigned until 2 September, 121 days after the convening authority had received the case.

At trial, the appellant moved to dismiss the charges for failure to bring her to trial within 120 days, as required by R.C.M. 707(b)(3)(D). The military judge denied the motion, citing three reasons: First, appellate case law barred the appellant from attributing her exercise of the 3-day delay to the Government for speedy trial purposes. United States v. Cherok, 22 M.J. 438, 440 (C.M.A. 1986). Second, the convening authority did not abuse her discretion by granting the trial counsel’s request for 30 days of excludable delay. Lastly, the appellant’s unauthorized absence of one day in reporting for duty was not chargeable to the Government, thus bringing her arraignment within the 120-day requirement.

The military judge’s ruling on a speedy trial motion is “a legal question that is reviewed de novo.” United States v. Doty, 51 M.J. 464, 465 (1999). However, the findings of fact underlying the ruling are given “substantial deference,” unless clearly erroneous. Id. (quoting United States v. Edmond, 41 M.J. 419, 420 (1995)). In this instance, we find that the military judge’s findings of fact are not clearly erroneous and adopt them for purposes of reviewing his ruling on the speedy trial motion. We believe Cherok is dispositive of the speedy trial issue. As a result, we do not find it necessary to discuss the other bases for the military judge’s ruling. In Cherok, our superior court stated that “Article 35[, UCMJ,] provides a shield with which an accused may prevent too speedy a trial, not a sword with which an accused may attack the Government for failing to bring him to trial sooner.” Cherok, 22 M.J. at 440.

The appellant argues that Cherok is distinguishable. Her trial defense counsel mistakenly thought the 120th day fell on 2 September. Therefore, she did not intend to use the three-day delay to create a speedy trial issue. We decline to interpret Cherok so narrowly. The key factor in this issue is not counsel’s purpose or intent with respect to the delay. It is the existence of the delay itself, regardless of the reason, that prevented the Government from bringing an accused to trial within 120 days, as required by R.C.M. 707(b)(3)(D). “An accused cannot be responsible for or agreeable to delay and then turn [637]*637around and demand dismissal for that same delay.” United States v. King, 30 M.J. 59, 66 (C.M.A.1990). By exercising the 3-day waiting period under Article 35, UCMJ, the appellant effectively waived her right to a speedy trial under R.C.M. 707. Id.

II. Severance of Charges

The appellant contends that the military judge erred by denying her motion to sever the perjury charge from the charges of attempted possession and distribution of LSD at her court-martial. We disagree.

Although the practice in the military is to dispose of all known charges at a single court-martial proceeding, an accused may file a motion to sever charges in order “to prevent manifest injustice.” R.C.M. 906(b)(10)(emphasis added). Under this rule, the military judge may sever charges to avoid “impermissible spillover [of evidence] in various ways from the proof of one offense into the trial of another offense” that would otherwise deny an accused the right to a fair trial. United States v. Duncan, 53 M.J. 494, 497 (2000). The appellant argued at trial that the evidence on the perjury charge would improperly bolster the Government’s case on the drug charges and that the danger of improper spillover could not be cured with a limiting instruction.

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

Related

United States v. Giles
59 M.J. 374 (Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
58 M.J. 634, 2003 CCA LEXIS 106, 2003 WL 1922943, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-giles-nmcca-2003.