United States v. Haynes

15 C.M.A. 122, 15 USCMA 122, 35 C.M.R. 94, 1964 CMA LEXIS 177, 1964 WL 4931
CourtUnited States Court of Military Appeals
DecidedNovember 13, 1964
DocketNo. 17,629
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 15 C.M.A. 122 (United States v. Haynes) 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. Haynes, 15 C.M.A. 122, 15 USCMA 122, 35 C.M.R. 94, 1964 CMA LEXIS 177, 1964 WL 4931 (cma 1964).

Opinion

Opinion of the Court

Kilday, Judge:

Appellant was convicted by a special court-martial, convened in Japan, of a single specification alleging breach of restriction, in violation of Article 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 USC § 934. Inasmuch as there was evidence of two previous convictions by summary court-martial, he was sentenced to bad-conduct discharge, confinement at hard labor for two months, and partial forfeitures for a like period. The findings and sentence, with a minor reduction in the rate of forfeitures, were approved by the convening authority. The officer exercising general court-martial jurisdiction approved the sentence and the same was affirmed by a board of review in the office of The Judge Advocate General of the Air Force.

This Court granted review on one assignment to determine whether the restriction was lawfully imposed, and two assignments relating to procedure at the trial. However, our disposition of this case renders unnecessary further consideration of the procedural matters.

The appellant was stationed at Misawa Air Base. On two occasions, as indicated above, he was convicted by summary courts-martial of the offense of wrongful appropriation of property. On each of such occasions he was sentenced to thirty days confinement at hard labor, the confinement being served at Tachikawa Air Base, Japan. It was upon his return to Misawa Air Base, upon completion of the second period of confinement, that appellant was “restricted to the limits of Misawa Air Base” by his squadron commander. The legality of this “restriction” is the subject matter with which we are concerned.

The squadron commander testified that since the accused’s previous difficulty, for which he had twice been sentenced, involved the subsequent sale of the wrongfully appropriated property in Misawa City, he felt the accused “would continue to do the same thing if the opportunity presented itself.” He therefore, in the presence of the accused’s first sergeant, informed the accused “that he was restricted to the limits of Misawa Air Base.” He did not place any time limit on the “restriction” but told the accused that “if he had business to transact in Misawa [City], to see me or the First Sergeant and we would restore his pass to him to transact this business that he had to transact.” On the 9th of October, accused received a pass, proceeded to Misawa City and returned the pass on the completion of his business. This is the only occasion, according to the witness, when the accused’s pass was restored to him.

On cross-examination, when the squadron commander was asked the reason for his putting the accused on restriction, he replied, “I felt it was in the best interest of the Air Force.” Ho [124]*124stated further that while the accused, at the time of the order placing him on “restriction,” was not under charges and no investigation was pending against him, administrative action, against the accused, under the provisions of Air Force Regulation 39-17, “Discharge of Airmen Because of Unfitness,” was being considered. The record also reflects that at the pertinent time the accused was not a suspect or a material witness in a judicial proceeding. In short, the only reason for the restriction, as stated by the squadron commander, was in order to prevent the accused from again wrongfully appropriating property and taking it to Misawa City to sell as he had done previously.

The basis for the charge of breach of restriction was the accused’s presence in a movie theatre two blocks from Misawa Air Base where he was observed by his first sergeant.

Appellate defense counsel contends that, inasmuch as at the time the restriction was imposed the accused was not under charges or under investigation and was not a suspect or material witness in a judicial proceeding, the restriction was not lawfully imposed.

The Government counters by asserting that the order of the commander imposing the restriction in question was not in conflict with any provisions of law governing the giving of orders in general or the imposition of restrictions in particular; that such order, having no connection with disciplinary proceedings and not having been imposed as a punitive measure, was entirely legal and valid as a proper exercise of the inherent authority of command.

Restriction is a restraint on the liberty of an individual. It is a lesser restraint than arrest, but a restraint nonetheless. Breach of restriction is a lesser included offense of a charge of breach of arrest. Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, 1951, Appendix 12, page 538; United States v Pritchard, 46 BR 141; United States v Biot, 52 BR 135; United States v Vaughan, 2 CMR (AF) 258. Restriction to quarters or to barracks is in fact arrest1 “ ‘and the designation of the restraint as restriction would have no effect.’ ” United States v Biot, United States v Vaughan, both supra. In Vaughan, the board of review, in considering the issue at hand, found that:

“Authority for administrative restriction is newly promulgated in the Manual for Courts-Martial, 1949, in paragraph 19 b. . . .
“[Ijnquiry into the history of the provision of the 1949 Manual indicates that it is derived from letter opinions by The Judge Advocate General of the Army [citing Biot, supra].”

This provision was restated in the current Manual, paragraph 206, with minor but unimportant changes.

As to arrest, this Court in United States v Teague, 3 USCMA 317, 322, 12 CMR 73, said:

“. . . The authority of the commanding officer to arrest the accused must be founded on some enactment of the Code or some delegation of power by the Manual for Courts-Martial. Our determination of the legality of the arrest here under consideration must be based upon the construction of the applicable provisions of the two.”

It is clear then that our determination of the legality of the restriction here under consideration must be based upon applicable provisions of the Code and the Manual.

Except for the restrictions provided in the newly amended provision of Article 15, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 USC § 815, “Commanding officer’s non-judicial punishment,” no provision of the Uniform Code of Military Justice specifically provides for restriction, either punitive or administrative. The Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, 1951, contains numerous provisions for the imposition of restriction. As illustrative thereof, we point out that restriction may be imposed by gen[125]*125eral courts-martial, paragraph 14; by-special courts-martial, paragraph 15; and by summary courts-martial, paragraph 16. Paragraph 1746 provides that:

A violation of a restraint on liberty other than arrest, custody or confinement, as an administrative restriction imposed in the interests of training, discipline, or medical quarantine, or the restraint imposed in lieu of arrest (206) on a prisoner paroled to work within certain limits, should be charged under Article 134.” [Emphasis supplied.]

And in paragraph 206 we find the following :

“An officer authorized to arrest (21a) may, within his discretion and without imposing arrest, restrict an accused person of his command, or subject to his authority, to specified areas of a military command. ... Thus an accused

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

Related

United States v. Specialist MARTIN L. CARROLL, JR.
Army Court of Criminal Appeals, 2014
United States v. Private E1 BRYCE M. PHILLIPS
73 M.J. 572 (Army Court of Criminal Appeals, 2014)
United States v. High
39 M.J. 82 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1994)
United States v. Miller
16 M.J. 858 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1983)
United States v. Buchecker
13 M.J. 709 (U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Military Review, 1982)
United States v. Bigleggins
12 M.J. 901 (U.S. Army Court of Military Review, 1982)
Pearson v. Cox
10 M.J. 317 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1981)
United States v. Walls
9 M.J. 88 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1980)
United States v. Peoples
6 M.J. 904 (U.S. Army Court of Military Review, 1979)
United States v. Nelson
5 M.J. 189 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1978)
United States v. Robinson
3 M.J. 65 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1977)
United States v. Heard
3 M.J. 14 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1977)
United States v. Wallace
2 M.J. 1 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1976)
United States v. Dunnings
1 M.J. 516 (U S Air Force Court of Military Review, 1975)
United States v. Hout
19 C.M.A. 299 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1970)
United States v. Bratcher
18 C.M.A. 125 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1969)
Roman v. Critz
291 F. Supp. 99 (W.D. Texas, 1968)
United States v. Smith
17 C.M.A. 427 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1968)
United States v. White
17 C.M.A. 211 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1967)
United States v. Williams
16 C.M.A. 589 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1967)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
15 C.M.A. 122, 15 USCMA 122, 35 C.M.R. 94, 1964 CMA LEXIS 177, 1964 WL 4931, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-haynes-cma-1964.