United States v. Keaton

19 C.M.A. 64, 19 USCMA 64, 41 C.M.R. 64, 1969 CMA LEXIS 640, 1969 WL 6283
United States Court of Military Appeals·Decided November 14, 1969·No. No. 22,233·Published·Cited by 23 cases

Opinion

Opinion of the Court

FeRguson, Judge:

The accused was convicted by general court-martial, convened at Clark Air Base, Republic of the Philippines, of one specification of assault with intent to commit murder, in violation of Article 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 USC § 934. He was sentenced to a dishonorable discharge, confinement at hard labor for eight years, forfeiture of $75.00 per month for ninety-six months, and reduction. Intermediate appellate authorities affirmed the findings and sentence without change. We granted review to determine the validity of the accused’s conviction in light of the constitutional limitations on court-martial jurisdiction delineated in O’Callahan v Parker, 395 US 258, 23 L Ed 2d 291, 89 S Ct 1683 (1969).

O’Callahan was convicted by general court-martial, convened in the territory of Hawaii, for offenses which occurred in a hotel room in the city of Honolulu. The Supreme Court held that the court-martial was without jurisdiction to hear the case against O’Callahan since the offenses were committed off base in the civilian community, within our territorial limits and not in the occupied zone of a foreign country, were cognizable in the civil courts which were open and functioning, and the charged crimes were without military significance (i. e., not “service connected”). The all-pervading factor behind the Court’s holding is contained in its statement at 395 US, at page 273:

“. . . we see no way of saving to servicemen and servicewomen in any case the benefits of indictment and of trial by jury, if we conclude that this petitioner was properly tried by court-martial.” [Emphasis supplied.]

In short, O’Callahan holds that since in a military trial an accused is not accorded the constitutional benefits of indictment and trial by jury (Article III, Amendments 5 and 6, United States Constitution), the court-martial is without jurisdiction to proceed if the offense, though proscribed by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, is not “service connected.” Essential to this holding is the fact that the crime must be cognizable in the civil courts of the United States, either State or Federal, and that such courts be open and functioning.

The charged offense in this case (assault with intent to commit murder) is an offense proscribed by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, promulgated by the Congress under the constitutional authority to “make Rules for the [66]*66Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces.” Article I, section 8, clause 14. The intent of Congress that the law have extraterritorial application is specifically provided for in Article 5 of the Code, supra. Cf. United States v Bowman, 260 US 94, 67 L Ed 149, 43 S Ct 39 (1922). Since the offense occurred in a friendly foreign country, we must first determine whether constitutional principles apply to any United States trial for offenses committed abroad.

In Reid v Covert, 364 US 1, 1 L Ed 2d 1148, 77 S Ct 1222 (1957), the Supreme Court quite thoroughly documented and discussed its prior cases concerning the applicability of the Constitution when the United States acts against its citizens for offenses committed abroad. The interested reader is referred thereto. While the court was not in accord with reference to the main point at issue,1 all generally agreed that such trials must accord with constitutional principles. The earlier declaration by the Supreme Court in Ross v McIntyre, 140 US 453, 35 L Ed 581, 11 S Ct 897 (1891), a consular court case, that “[T]he Constitution can have no operation in another country” was effectively laid to rest. See also Kinsella v United States, 361 US 234, 4 L Ed 2d 268, 80 S Ct 297 (1960).

In this case there was in effect, at the time of trial, a Treaty between the United States and the Government of the Philippines respecting the exercise of jurisdiction in criminal matters. This Treaty, 61 Stat 4019, 4025, dated March 14, 1947, TIAS 1775, amended August 10, 1965 (16 United States Treaties and other International Agreements 1090, TIAS 5851), granted to military authorities of the United States the right to hold courts-martial in the Republic of the Philippines in certain instances. Article XIII, sections 1, 2, 3, and 9 are particularly appropriate to the question under consideration.

In summary, section 1 of the Treaty provides for concurrent jurisdiction over United States servicemen insofar as the particular offense is proscribed by the laws of both countries. Under section 3, however, primary jurisdiction is vested in the Philippine courts for all offenses by servicemen except the following: those solely against the property or security of the United States; offenses solely against the person or property of a member of the United States armed forces, or civilian component, or of a dependent; and offenses arising out of any act or omission done in the performance of official duty. Waiver, by either Government, of the right to primary jurisdiction is also provided. Where the offense is punishable only by the law of one of the Governments, including offenses relating to its security, the right to exercise exclusive jurisdiction is vested in that Government (section 2). According to section 9, servicemen tried by Philippine courts will be afforded certain basic rights. While nothing is said in the Treaty about indictment and trial by jury, the matter is unimportant for the Constitution of the United States applies only to trials by State or Federal courts of the United States. Even if the Philippine system of justice included or exceeded the benefits conferred on citizens of this country, the procedure would still not be governed by our constitutional principles. Congress cannot by Treaty abrogate these rights. Reid v Covert, supra.

[67]*67Since the offense charged against Keaton is proscribed by Article 134 of the Code, and inasmuch as his victim was another serviceman (Airman Browder), the military authorities of the United States had, under the Treaty, the primary right to exercise jurisdiction over the offense and over the accused. A majority of this Court has held that an offense by one serviceman against another is “service connected” regardless of where or under what circumstances the offense was committed. See United States v Nichols, 19 USCMA 43, 41 CMR 43, and cases cited therein. For the purpose of this opinion we could leave the matter there. However, in light of that provision of the Treaty by which the Philippine Government could waive its primary right to exercise jurisdiction over offenses which are clearly not “service connected,” the question arises, and we should now decide, whether the accused is entitled, in those instances, to the benefits of indictment and trial by jury. O’Callahan v Parker, supra.

If, under the Constitution, a serviceman who commits a nonservice-con-nected offense abroad is entitled to the benefits of indictment and trial by jury, how can these benefits be afforded him ? Constitutional protections of this nature are available only through the civil courts of the United States and only military courts are authorized to function within the Republic of the Philippines. Since there are no Article III courts established in the Philippines,2 the only alternative would seem to be to return the accused to the United States for trial.

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United States v. Keaton, 19 C.M.A. 64, 19 USCMA 64, 41 C.M.R. 64, 1969 CMA LEXIS 640, 1969 WL 6283 (cma 1969).

19 C.M.A. 64 (United States v. Keaton) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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