United States v. Gould

13 M.J. 734, 1982 CMR LEXIS 1019
CourtU.S. Army Court of Military Review
DecidedApril 19, 1982
DocketSPCM 15709
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 13 M.J. 734 (United States v. Gould) 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. Gould, 13 M.J. 734, 1982 CMR LEXIS 1019 (usarmymilrev 1982).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT ON RECONSIDERATION

FOREMAN, Judge:

Contrary to her pleas, the appellant was convicted of wrongful possession of marihuana (Specification 1 of Charge III) and possession of 91.07 grams of marihuana with the intent to distribute, in violation of Article 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. § 934 (1976) (Specification 3 of Charge III). She was sentenced to a bad-conduct discharge, confinement at hard labor for six months, forfeiture of $334.00 pay per month for six months, and reduction to Private E-1. The sentence was approved by the convening authority.

On 23 October 1981, in an unpublished opinion, we set aside the findings of guilty of Specification 1 of Charge III and affirmed only so much of the sentence as provided for a bad-conduct discharge, confinement at hard labor for five months, forfeiture of $334.00 pay per month for five months and reduction to Private E-1. Our previous opinion is incorporated in Parts I and II of this opinion.

On 17 November 1981 we granted the appellant’s motion for reconsideration to consider the appellant’s contention that 21 U.S.C. § 841, the statute cited in Specification 3 of Charge III, does not apply extra-territorially. Our disposition of this contention is at Parts III and IV of this opinion.

I. The Search

The appellant contends that the marihuana which was seized from a barracks room should have been excluded from evidence because it was the product of an unlawful search and seizure. We disagree.

On the evening of 11 June 1980, the appellant visited Private First Class Huttner at the latter’s barracks room. Because the appellant was assigned to a different unit and barracks, she signed in with the Charge of Quarters, Sergeant Grate, upon entering the barracks. Approximately a half-hour later, Huttner left the barracks to attend a class, but arranged to meet the appellant afterwards at the education center, and left her room key with the appellant so she could lock the door upon leaving. The appellant, who had visited Huttner at her room before and on several occasions had stayed overnight, remained in the room to listen to the stereo.

During the period that the appellant was alone in Huttner’s room, Sergeant Grate decided to billet a newly-arrived soldier in Huttner’s room because Huttner’s roommate was on leave. He escorted the new soldier to the room and he knocked on the door, but was told by another soldier that no one was in. He soon learned otherwise as he heard music in the room, which was shortly turned down, and he heard a noise in the room which caused him to believe that someone was trying to exit from the [737]*737room through the window. Sergeant Grate then ran out of the building to investigate. He looked in the window and saw the appellant rummaging in a dresser drawer. He ran back into the building and again knocked on Huttner’s door and identified himself as the Charge of Quarters. Sergeant Grate testified that at this time he smelled the odor of marihuana or hashish coming from the room. When the appellant opened the door, the smell became very strong and he saw that the room was filled with smoke. He next testified that as he entered the room he directed the appellant to stand in the corner. Instead of doing so, she walked by the dresser and removed a brown paper bag from an open drawer and started walking toward the door. Sergeant Grate again told her to get in the corner, and as she went over to the corner, she put the bag back into the drawer. Sergeant Grate then looked into the open drawer and saw the open bag containing foil wrapped packets and three white packets which were loose in the drawer. He then removed the bag, the top of which had been cut off, and dumped its contents onto the top of the dresser.

At this time, the staff duty noncommissioned officer arrived and directed Sergeant Grate to place the items back into the bag and return it to the dresser drawer. The unit first sergeant then arrived and shortly thereafter telephoned the battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Tindall. The first sergeant was sworn and told the battalion commander that both he and Sergeant Grate had smelled marihuana in Huttner’s room. Believing that they both were able to recognize the smell of marihuana and that they were reliable, the battalion commander authorized a search of the room. As a result of the search, the marihuana in the dresser was seized, as was a quantity of marihuana contained in three film cannisters — two on top of a refrigerator, and one in the refrigerator.

At trial, the defense moved to suppress the marihuana. The military judge denied the motion on the grounds that the appellant did not have an “adequate interest” under Military Rules of Evidence 311(a)(2).

We believe Sergeant Grate’s entry into the room was lawful. In his capacity as charge of quarters, he assigned a newly-arrived soldier to the room, and escorted her to the door. At the door, Sergeant Grate heard music and movement in the room, which he believed should have been unoccupied. Properly acting on his suspicion when there was no answer to his knocking on the door, he went outside to see if anyone was escaping through the window. He looked into the window, not searching for any particular suspect or evidence of a crime, but in an effort to protect the security of the barracks, and saw the appellant near the dresser. Sergeant Grate’s observations through the window were not a search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment, or otherwise improper. See United States v. Lewis, 11 M.J. 188 (C.M.A.1981).

He returned to the door, knocked, and identified himself. As the appellant opened the door, Sergeant Grate smelled marihuana and noticed the room was smoke-filled. At this point we believe that Sergeant Grate acted lawfully in entering the room and placing the appellant under apprehension. United States v. Acosta, 11 M.J. 307 (C.M.A.1981); United States v. Cunningham, 11 M.J. 242 (C.M.A.1981); United States v. Hessler, 7 M.J. 9 (C.M.A.1979).

The evidence is conflicting on the question whether the marihuana was in plain view in the room or in a closed dresser drawer. Sergeant Grate testified that he saw the marihuana in an opened drawer; the appellant testified that Sergeant Grate opened the dresser drawer. However, we need not resolve this question since the appellant did not have an adequate interest to object to a search of the dresser. Although she may have had a limited expectation of privacy in the room as a casual visitor, that expectation did not extend to the interior of a dresser placed in the room for use by assigned occupants. See Military Rules of Evidence 311(a)(2); Rawlings v. Kentucky, 448 U.S. 98, 100 S.Ct. 2556, 65 L.Ed.2d 633 (1980); Rakas v. Illinois, 439 [738]*738U.S. 128, 149, 99 S.Ct. 421, 433, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978).

II. Proof of Appellant’s Knowing Possession of Marihuana

The appellant attacks the sufficiency of the evidence that she knowingly possessed the marihuana in Specifications 1 and 3 of Charge III.

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Bluebook (online)
13 M.J. 734, 1982 CMR LEXIS 1019, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-gould-usarmymilrev-1982.