United States v. Humpherys

57 M.J. 83, 2002 CAAF LEXIS 723, 2002 WL 1626177
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Armed Forces
DecidedJuly 23, 2002
Docket01-0426/AR
StatusPublished
Cited by318 cases

This text of 57 M.J. 83 (United States v. Humpherys) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Humpherys, 57 M.J. 83, 2002 CAAF LEXIS 723, 2002 WL 1626177 (Ark. 2002).

Opinions

Judge EFFRON

delivered the opinion of the Court.

A special court-martial composed of officer and enlisted members convicted appellant, contrary to his pleas, of three specifications of engaging in nonprofessional social behavior with trainees in violation of a lawful general regulation, making a false official statement, sodomy, and two specifications of adultery, in violation of Articles 92, 107, 125, and 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), 10 USC §§ 892, 907, 925, and 934. He was sentenced to a bad-conduct discharge. The convening authority approved the sentence as adjudged, and the Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed in an unpublished opinion.

On appellant’s petition, we granted review of the following issues:

I. WHETHER THE ASSISTANT TRIAL COUNSEL VIOLATED THE LEGAL NORMS AND STANDARDS OF ARMY REGULATION 27-26 AND PROFESSIONAL ETHICS BY BREACHING MATERIAL ASPECTS OF HER ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE WITH APPELLANT, HER FORMER LEGAL ASSISTANCE CLIENT, WHEN SHE LATER REPRESENTED THE GOVERNMENT PROSECUTING APPELLANT AND USED MATERIALLY ADVERSE INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM HER PRIOR REPRESENTATION OF APPELLANT TO APPELLANT’S PREJUDICE.
II. WHETHER THE EVIDENCE IS LEGALLY INSUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT A CONVICTION OF SPECIFICATION 1 OF CHARGE I (VIOLATING A LAWFUL GENERAL REGULATION) BECAUSE THE STATEMENT DOES NOT MEET THE LEGAL DEFINITION OF ACTIVITIES PROHIBITED BY THE GENERAL REGULATION.
III. WHETHER THE MILITARY JUDGE ABUSED HIS DISCRETION WHEN HE ALLOWED THE GOVERNMENT TO PRESENT UNCHARGED MISCONDUCT OF THE ACCUSED TO PANEL MEMBERS ON THE MERITS.
IV. WHETHER THE MILITARY JUDGE ERRED IN FAILING TO GRANT APPELLANT’S MOTION FOR A NEW TRIAL WHERE TWO MEM[86]*86BERS FAILED TO DISCLOSE IN VOIR DIRE THAT ONE MEMBER WAS ANOTHER MEMBER’S SENIOR RATER.1

For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.

I. DISQUALIFICATION OF ASSISTANT TRIAL COUNSEL (Issue I)

A. Factual Background,

The charges against appellant, a drill sergeant, were based on allegations that he engaged in sexual misconduct with several female trainees in his platoon. Two judge advocates were detailed to prosecute the court-martial, Captain (CPT) M as trial counsel, and CPT S as assistant trial counsel. Prior to trial, defense counsel moved to disqualify CPT S, citing her prior representation of appellant as a legal assistance attorney. CPT S’s prior representation of appellant dealt with child support. Defense counsel alleged that CPT S subsequently conducted a pretrial interview of appellant’s wife in connection with the current case, in which appellant’s wife “was asked questions [of] which she believed CPT S[] had prior knowledge ... due to her representation of Sergeant Humpherys. In particular CPT S[ ] asked ... [Sergeant Humpherys’] wife about Sergeant Humpherys’ children from a prior relationship” and his financial support of the children.

Upon inquiry by the military judge during a pretrial session under Article 39(a), UCMJ, 10 USC § 839(a), CPT S stated that, with respect to the prior representation, she remembered “vaguely something with respect to child support ... and it was a Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act issue.”2 She added that she had no recollection of the details, only of the general subject matter. With respect to the pretrial interview of appellant’s wife in the present case, CPT S stated that she asked about the children because the wife was listed as a sentencing witness and during a prior, unrelated court-martial, the panel asked about children and child support.

The Article 39(a) session also established that the legal assistance file generated by CPT S during the prior representation was still maintained in the Staff Judge Advocate’s (SJA) office. Appellant did not ask the military judge to examine that file in camera. Neither did appellant ask the military judge to take any other steps during the Article 39(a) session, such as permitting testimony under a protective order, that would have allowed the accused to place into the record the specific details of the prior representation.

The military judge denied the defense’s motion to disqualify CPT S on the following grounds: (1) the charges in the present case did not relate to the period of time covered by the prior lawyer-client relationship between appellant and CPT S, nor to any previous marriage; (2) the evidence did not demonstrate that the subject matter of the prior representation had any substantial relationship to any matter in issue in the present case; and (3) the military judge accepted CPT S’s assertion that she did not recall the specifics of the prior representation. The military judge added, however, that he would reconsider the motion if it became apparent during subsequent proceedings that there was a connection between the prior representation and the instant case.

When appellant’s wife was called as a defense witness, CPT S conducted the cross-examination. During that examination, appellant’s wife testified that it was “unthinkable” that her husband would commit adultery because they attended church together, their religious beliefs were deeply held, and he loved her. In response, CPT S questioned appellant’s wife “about adultery, children out of wedlock, and religious and moral views held by her and appellant.” Final Brief at 12. Appellant contends that this was a violation of an ethical duty because “[t]he obvious implication is that CPT S[] obtained the information from appellant in her capacity as his lawyer.” Id.

[87]*87B. Legal Background

Prior representation may lead to disqualification on either of two independent grounds. First, an attorney may be disqualified if the current representation is adverse to a former client, and the prior representation of that client involved the same or a substantially related matter. See, e.g., United States v. Green, 5 USCMA 610, 18 CMR 234 (1955). Second, an attorney may be disqualified if there is a reasonable probability that specific confidences from the prior representation may be used to the disadvantage of the former client. Islander East Rental Program v. Ferguson, 917 F.Supp. 504, 509 (S.D.Tex. 1996).

The substantial relationship test and the confidential information test both appear in the ABA’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.9(a) and (c), respectively. In general, the federal civilian courts have adopted Rule 1.9 as the national standard governing attorneys and their disqualification. See, e.g., Cole v. Ruidoso Municipal Schools, 43 F.3d 1373, 1383-84 (10th Cir. 1994); In re American Airlines, Inc., 972 F.2d 605 (5th Cir.1992); Havens v. Indiana, 793 F.2d 143, 145 (7th Cir.1986); In re Corn Derivatives Antitrust Litigation, 748 F.2d 157, 161-62 (3rd Cir.1984).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
57 M.J. 83, 2002 CAAF LEXIS 723, 2002 WL 1626177, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-humpherys-armfor-2002.