United States v. Gregg

4 M.J. 897, 1978 CMR LEXIS 745
U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Military Review·Decided March 16, 1978·No. NCM 77 2168·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinion

GLADIS, Judge:

Pursuant to pleas of guilty entered in accordance with a pretrial agreement, the accused was convicted at a special court-martial bench trial of willful destruction of military property, simple arson, and simple assault, in violation of Articles 108, 126, and 128, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. §§ 908, 926, and 928. The sentence approved on review below [898] consists of a probationally suspended bad conduct discharge, confinement at hard labor for 75 days, forfeiture of $150 per month for 3 months and reduction to pay grade E-l.

The accused asserts and the Government concedes that the inquiry of the military judge concerning the pretrial agreement was inadequate because the judge did not secure from the defense counsel and the prosecutor confirmation that the written agreement encompassed all of the understandings of the parties. The issue presented by this appeal is whether there is a remedy for the deficient inquiry other than setting aside the findings. Citing Blackledge v. Allison, 431 U.S. 63, 97 S.Ct. 1621, 52 L.Ed.2d 136 (1977) and United States v. DuBay, 17 U.S.C.M.A. 147, 37 C.M.R. 411 (1967), appellate Government counsel asks us to establish the facts by obtaining affidavits or answers to interrogatories from counsel or, in the alternative, to remand the record of trial to the convening authority for a limited hearing. We reject the Government’s position and reverse, because such a defect in a plea bargain inquiry is a matter affecting the providence of the accused’s plea and requires the remedy normally utilized in cases involving improvident pleas, that is, setting aside the findings based upon the improvident pleas of guilty and authorizing a rehearing at which the accused is permitted to plead anew.

In United States v. Green, 24 U.S.C.M.A. 299, 52 C.M.R. 10, 1 M.J. 453 (1976), to ensure that the propriety and meaning of various plea bargain provisions would be satisfactorily set forth on the record, the Court of Military Appeals announced guidelines for plea bargain inquiries, which included the trial judge’s securing assurance from the counsel for the accused as well as the prosecutor that the written agreement encompasses all of the understandings of the parties. The Court noted that a plea bargain inquiry is essential to satisfy the statutory mandate1 that a guilty plea not be accepted unless the trial judge first determines that it has been voluntarily and providently made, and held that henceforth failure to conduct a plea bargain inquiry would be viewed as a matter affecting the providence of the accused’s plea. Subsequently, in United States v. King, 3 M.J. 458 (C.M.A. 1977), a case in which the military judge failed to secure from the defense counsel as well as the prosecutor confirmation that the written pretrial agreement encompassed all of the understandings of the parties, the Court declined to fill in a record left silent by the trial judge’s omission or, even absent a showing of a sub rosa agreement, refrain from declaring the plea provident. The Court stated that refusal to declare a plea improvident, because of failure of the trial judge to follow the procedure set forth in Green strictly, is unacceptable because it ignores the basic policy behind Green of requiring the trial judiciary to participate actively in and prepare a record for the appellate authorities which satisfactorily demonstrates the absence of such agreements; declined to adopt a different remedy from that normally utilized in providence eases under United States v. Care, 18 U.S.C.M.A. 535, 40 C.M.R. 247 (1969); and reversed.

In McCarthy v. United States, 394 U.S. 459, 89 S.Ct. 1166, 22 L.Ed.2d 418 (1969), the Supreme Court was faced with determining the effect of noncompliance with a rule designed to assist the district judge in making the constitutionally required determination that an accused’s guilty plea is truly voluntary and produce a complete record at the time the plea is entered of the factors relevant to the voluntariness determination. The rule required the judge to address the defendant personally and determine that the plea was made voluntarily with understanding of the nature of the charge and the consequences of the plea. Rejecting the holdings of the courts of appeals which had ruled that, if voluntariness cannot be determined from the record, the case should be remanded for an evidentiary hearing on the [899] issue; the Supreme Court adopted the Ninth Circuit holding that, when the district court does not comply fully with the rule, the guilty plea must be set aside and the case remanded for another hearing at which the defendant may plead anew. The rule in question was designed to eliminate any need to resort to a later fact-finding proceeding and to eliminate at the outset any disputes as to the understanding of the defendant and the voluntariness of his action. Noting the difficulty of achieving the purpose of the rule through a post-conviction voluntariness hearing, because, when the ascertainment of voluntariness is subsequently made, greater uncertainty is bound to exist, since in the resolution of disputed contentions, problems of credibility and reliability of memory cannot be avoided; the Court found that prejudice inheres in a failure to comply with procedural safeguards that are designed to facilitate a more accurate determination of the voluntariness of the plea.

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United States v. Gregg, 4 M.J. 897, 1978 CMR LEXIS 745 (usnmcmilrev 1978).

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