United States v. Kimble

30 M.J. 892, 1990 CMR LEXIS 495, 1990 WL 59595
CourtU S Air Force Court of Military Review
DecidedApril 25, 1990
DocketACM 27680
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 30 M.J. 892 (United States v. Kimble) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U S Air Force Court of Military Review primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Kimble, 30 M.J. 892, 1990 CMR LEXIS 495, 1990 WL 59595 (usafctmilrev 1990).

Opinion

DECISION

KASTL, Senior Judge:

Under the Confrontation Clause, how far must the Government go to secure the presence of a witness before he or she can be considered “unavailable?" Such is the question before us today. Like the recent case of United States v. Ferdinand, 29 M.J. 164 (C.M.A.1989), we find that the Government did not go far enough to aggressively subpoena a necessary witness. At the same time — as in Ferdinand — we are convinced that admission of hearsay statements of the absent witness was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. We will address this issue and others. We affirm.

Factual Setting

Despite pleas of not guilty, the appellant was convicted of indecent acts upon AK, a child under 16, by touching her private parts and fondling her with the intent to arouse his sexual desires, in violation of Article 134, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 934. He was sentenced by members to confinement for four years and reduction to airman first class.

It was 15 June 1988 in Nevada. Mrs. Patricia Shaw, a neighbor and close friend of the appellant’s family, received a late evening phone call from the appellant’s older daughter, SK. During the conversation, SK reported that “our daddy’s doing it [894]*894again;” in the background, Mrs. Shaw could hear AK, the alleged victim, stating “no, no, please don’t tell her.” Mrs. Shaw succeeded in getting AK to the telephone. Mrs. Shaw had suspected the appellant of prior indecent acts with his daughter in April 1987. Now, she went to the appellant’s house; finding the parents gone, she took AK to her own house, then went searching for the appellant and his wife.

While Mrs. Shaw did not go into details with AK, she did ask what the appellant had done. AK replied that he had caressed her breasts and her privates; she also related that “around Christmas it started again,” and was continuing. AK also indicated that touchings had occurred earlier the very same day.

Mrs. Shaw located the parents at a local casino and informed Mrs. Kimble of AK’s allegations. Mrs. Kimble apparently contacted both civilian authorities and the appellant’s reporting official, Chief Master Sergeant Wilson. Informed of the problem, Chief Wilson believed the alleged misconduct was restricted to one or two occasions. Chief Wilson briefed the appellant’s superior, Major Trent. They initially felt civilian authorities should handle the case. Wilson, a close friend of appellant, went to his house, spoke briefly with Mrs. Kimble, and took the appellant home. The appellant lived with Wilson over the next two months.

Meanwhile, the appellant was dealing with civilian authorities concerning the matter. He gave no statement to the authorities. Through a private attorney, he was able to arrange for a deferral of prosecution upon successful completion of a counseling program. On the military side, Major Trent arranged for the appellant to be evaluated at government expense by Dr. Masters, a psychiatrist, in regard to the appellant’s security clearance.

Major Trent and the on-site commander, Colonel Jones, received informal notification of the state decision not to prosecute. They continued to defer to the civilian community handling all aspects of the case and advised the appellant that if he successfully completed a program of therapy, he would not face a court-martial. They apparently believed there were only two incidents involving the appellant and AK.

Pursuant to his agreement with the state, the appellant entered a sexual abuse treatment program; in July 1988, he began seeing Mr. Daniel Bixler, a clinical therapist, as part of that regimen. In his sessions with Mr. Bixler, the appellant admitted to performing indecent acts upon AK in April 1987 and on numerous occasions between January and June 1988. This detailed information was unknown to the appellant’s supervisors at that time; they apparently only learned of the full details in August 1988.

In August 1988, Colonel Jones retired and was succeeded by Colonel Tilley. Shortly thereafter, the appellant was advised by Chief Wilson that an agent of the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) wished to interview him. Chief Wilson counselled the appellant to cooperate and opined that he need not fear the interview — it was merely for informational purposes. After Article 31 10 U.S.C. § 831 advisement, the appellant provided a full confession to the OSI. (His statement was not offered at trial because the appellant’s defense counsel had not been notified of the interview).

After reading the OSI report, Major Trent and Colonel Tilley decided to prefer charges against the appellant because his offenses were much more extensive than they had thought. Trent and the retiring Colonel Jones apparently had believed the appellant had committed two indecent acts, not multiple offenses over an extended period. However, as appellate defense counsel point out, the appellant was forthright with Nevada health care professionals from the outset as to the extent of his involvement.

As for AK, she had begun seeing a family therapist, Ms. Evelyn Hall. AK told Ms. Hall that the appellant had touched her private parts in April 1987, stopped for awhile, then started again around Christmas 1987 and continued until mid-June 1988. AK and her mother saw Ms. Hall for 11 sessions. The defense insists that AK [895]*895and Mrs. Kimble did not desire therapy but were virtually coerced to seek therapy by Nevada authorities upon threat to remove AK from the home. During the appellant’s court-martial, Ms. Hall testified that after the second session, AK refused to acknowledge that a problem existed, claiming that everything was fine and she did not need further treatment.

A De Facto Grant of Immunity?

Citing Cooke v. Orser, 12 M.J. 335 (C.M.A.1982), the appellant first asserts that he was denied due process under the Fifth Amendment in that he enjoys the functional equivalent of a grant of immunity. To the defense, the appellant and his family had worked with Nevada authorities solely due to assurances from the appellant’s commander and the Air Force that no punitive military action would occur — providing he cooperated. Then, says the defense, the prosecution built the case upon at least two unlawfully induced statements: (a) the appellant’s revelations to Mr. Bixler as part of state-supervised therapy in lieu of trial; and (b) those made by AK to Ms. Hall during her therapy. Clearly, says the defense, the bulk of the Government’s case against the appellant came precisely because of his cooperation. In effect, the Government snookered the appellant; therefore, good faith and minimal integrity require an ungrudging enforcement of this de facto grant of immunity. See United States v. Spence, 29 M.J. 630, 637 (A.F.C.M.R.1989) and cases cited.

We are stubborn and unyielding in our determination to enforce the Rule of Law. As we indicated in Spence, if the Air Force effectively promises an individual that he will not be prosecuted, we will enforce that promise; “the Air Force cannot break its word.” Spence, 29 M.J. at 637.1 Here, however, the situation is far different, and we find that the appellant’s rights were not violated.

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

Related

United States v. Private E1 JUSTIN S. CHATMAN
Army Court of Criminal Appeals, 2014
United States v. Wagner
35 M.J. 721 (U S Air Force Court of Military Review, 1992)
United States v. ZupkofsKa
34 M.J. 537 (U S Air Force Court of Military Review, 1991)
United States v. Sanders
33 M.J. 1026 (U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Military Review, 1991)
United States v. Kimble
33 M.J. 284 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
30 M.J. 892, 1990 CMR LEXIS 495, 1990 WL 59595, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-kimble-usafctmilrev-1990.