United States v. Hurt

9 C.M.A. 735, 9 USCMA 735, 27 C.M.R. 3, 1958 CMA LEXIS 422, 1958 WL 3505
CourtUnited States Court of Military Appeals
DecidedOctober 7, 1958
DocketNo. 10,533
StatusPublished
Cited by72 cases

This text of 9 C.M.A. 735 (United States v. Hurt) 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. Hurt, 9 C.M.A. 735, 9 USCMA 735, 27 C.M.R. 3, 1958 CMA LEXIS 422, 1958 WL 3505 (cma 1958).

Opinions

Opinion of the Court

ROBERT E. Quinn, Chief Judge:

A five-year-old Okinawan girl was found in an abandoned quarry off a coastal road bordering the China Sea about 7:30 a.m., September 4, 1955. She was dead. Medical examination disclosed she had been violated and that death occurred about 10:00 p.m. the previous night. The cause of death was suffocation which could have resulted from pressure of the fingers of an adult on the windpipe. Two days later the accused was arrested. He was charged with murder committed in the course of a felony and rape. A general court-martial, which at the accused’s request included enlisted personnel, convicted him of the charges and sentenced him to death. The convening authority and board of review affirmed the conviction. The case is now before us on mandatory review under the provisions of Article 67(b)(1), Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 USC § 867.

With the accused’s life at stake, defense counsel, at trial and on appeal, have explored every legal avenue open to them. Nineteen assignments of error have been set out before this Court. The principal contention is that the evidence is not sufficient to support the findings of guilty, an issue which divided the board of review below. The importance of the principal issue and the fact of division of opinion among the board of review members bring to the forefront certain procedures followed by the board of review which are vigorously attacked by appellate defense counsel.

At the trial, a witness for the prosecution testified he saw a man get out of a car, pick up the little girl, and drive away. It was dark when the incident occurred. He described the wearing apparel of the man, and on direct examination identified the car outside the courtroom as the one he saw on the fatal night. To test the identification, he was asked on cross-examination what the color of the seat covers were. He answered that he had “seen it like it was white.” The Government introduced into evidence pieces of the seat cover from the accused’s car. These were not, however, forwarded with the record of trial. Instead, photographs were substituted and the physical exhibits were withdrawn. The record of trial shows that, in accordance with AR 190-22, the exhibits were placed in the custody of the Chief, Investigations Branch, 8118 Army Unit, “pending review” of the case.

When the case came before the board of review, appellate defense counsel contended the evidence was insufficient to support the findings of guilty. An important part of his argument was directed against the testimony of the Government’s witness, an eight and one-half-year-old boy. He stressed the fact that another Government witness described the seat covers as “green plaid.” In reply, Government counsel maintained that the young witness merely “erred” in describing the color. The board of review “called for and received” one of the pieces of seat cover and “observed it under various light conditions.” It determined that there were strips of white in the plaid pattern and these were “predominant when viewed in a darkened room.” This appearance, it said in its opinion, “conforms with the scientific fact that white reflects light while darker colors absorb light.” The board of review did not inform counsel it had requested the exhibit, and had examined it in different degrees of light. But it did, as noted [751]*751above, refer to the matter in its opinion.

The nature or quality of an item of physical evidence, such as a bulk, intrinsic value, or perishability, may make it impractical to include it in the record of trial submitted to an appellate body for review. In that event, a photograph or suitable description is usually set out in the record in place of the exhibit. See Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, 1951, paragraph 138c. However, the substitution does not mean that the appellate authority cannot obtain and examine the actual evidence. The exhibit is part of the evidence and the appellate body can request it for direct, personal inspection. See Rules 75(h) and (i), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Consequently, the board of review did not err in requesting the actual exhibit.1 The questions then are whether the procedure it followed was correct and, if not, whether the procedure prejudiced the accused in any material respect.

As a general rule, a party to a proceeding who will be affected by a proposed action therein is entitled to notice of the action and to an opportunity to present his views in regard to it. On principle, therefore, the board of review should have informed counsel of its request for the seat cover and of, its proposed examination of it. The board of review should also have accorded counsel an opportunity to explain or refute the proposed use of the exhibit. These things were not done. The board of review excused its oversight by equating its action to the right of the jury to take exhibits in evidence into the jury room. That right is not absolute but rests in the discretion of the trial judge, exercised sua sponte or on request of the jury or counsel. Robinson v United States, 210 F2d 29 (CA DC Cir) (1954); Rumely v United States, 293 Fed 532 (CA 2d Cir) (1923). Since, in a sense, the board of review acts both as a judge and a jury, it apparently believed it was enough to give itself permission to consider the exhibit. However, there may be limitations on the use of the exhibit in the fact-finding situation. Steele v United States, 222 F2d 628 (CA 5th Cir) (1955); see also Wilson v United States, 116 Fed 484 (CA 9th Cir) (1902). A party to the proceedings is entitled to the opportunity to assure himself that the fact finder is made fully aware of the limitations. That opportunity was not accorded to the accused. But, under the circumstances of the case, we cannot say that the board of review acted to his prejudice.

In challenging the sufficiency of the evidence, appellate defense counsel attempted, on several grounds, to discredit the youth who testified for the Government. One of the grounds was the witness’s statement on cross-examination that he had “seen it [the seat cover] like it was white.” This statement was contrasted with the unqualified statement by another witness that the seat cover in the accused’s car was a “green plaid.” Counsel, therefore, invited the board of review to compare the lad’s testimony with the actual color of the seat cover. Since the seat cover had not been forwarded with the record of trial, the only thing the board of review could do to comply with the invitation was to request the cover and examine it. That is just what the board of review did.

Having been asked to make the comparison, the board of review assumed it could do so at its own time and in its own place. In this respect, it correctly compared its action to that of a jury which was allowed to take physical evidence with it into the jury room for personal examination. The result was unfavorable to the accused. But he cannot complain of that. He asked for the comparison. The fact it did not go [752]*752the way he wanted it to go is no ground for complaint. What is left to him, therefore, is simply the procedure followed in the examination.

Two possible grounds of invalidity are present. The first is that the exhibit was not in the same condition at the time it was reviewed by the board of review as it was in when offered into evidence at the trial. The cover was in the hands of an official custodian for safekeeping and it was received by the board of review through registered mail.

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Bluebook (online)
9 C.M.A. 735, 9 USCMA 735, 27 C.M.R. 3, 1958 CMA LEXIS 422, 1958 WL 3505, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-hurt-cma-1958.