United States v. King

30 M.J. 59, 1990 CMA LEXIS 544, 1990 WL 33252
CourtUnited States Court of Military Appeals
DecidedApril 12, 1990
DocketNo. 61,869; CM 447533
StatusPublished
Cited by46 cases

This text of 30 M.J. 59 (United States v. King) 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. King, 30 M.J. 59, 1990 CMA LEXIS 544, 1990 WL 33252 (cma 1990).

Opinions

Opinion of the Court

COX, Judge:

Appellant pleaded guilty to a single specification of murder while attempting to commit rape, in violation of Article 118, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 USC § 918.1 The military judge, sitting alone as [61]*61a general court-martial at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, sentenced appellant to a dishonorable discharge, confinement for life, and total forfeitures. Pursuant to a pretrial agreement, the convening authority reduced the confinement to 15 years, but approved the rest of the sentence. The Court of Military Review affirmed. 27 MJ 664 (1988). We granted three issues for review:

I
WHETHER THE MILITARY JUDGE ERRED IN DENYING APPELLANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS FOR LACK OF A SPEEDY TRIAL.
II
WHETHER APPELLANT’S GUILTY PLEA WAS IMPROVIDENT BECAUSE OF THE GOVERNMENT’S MISCONDUCT AND DEFENSE COUNSEL’S INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE PRIOR TO APPELLANT’S PLEA.
III
WHETHER APPELLANT WAS DENIED THE EFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL.

We hold that appellant was not denied a speedy trial, that he was not denied effective assistance of trial defense counsel, and that his pleas of guilty were provident.

The deceased, Private Annette Wozniak, vanished at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, on or about October 22, 1983. Her body was found on base on November 8, 1983. Appellant and Wozniak were members of the same advanced individual training class. Another servicemember was the early suspect. Training ended shortly after Private Wozniak’s disappearance, and the class was dispersed worldwide. Appellant was assigned to Germany.

According to evidence adduced at an Article 32, UCMJ, 10 USC § 832, investigation (there were two), appellant allegedly told a servicemember on February 5, 1984, “that he was going to hell for murder.” Earlier, he had supposedly told another service-member that he killed “a girl.” Reports of these statements led investigators to appellant. Later, on April 30, 1984, Private Edward Bahr claimed that appellant told him he had killed Wozniak.2

On or about February 9, 1984, appellant sought legal counsel in Germany. He had already been questioned by Criminal Investigation Command (CID) agents, but he had not confessed. It was stipulated at trial that a Trial Defense Service attorney, Captain John Hoffman, saw appellant for about 5 minutes. Hoffman refused to enter into an attorney-client relationship. This was done so that Hoffman would not be called to Fort Huachuca as individual military counsel. Hoffman basically told appellant “not to talk to anyone about the case” and “to tell anyone that tried to question him to call me [Hoffman].” Hoffman declined to discuss the facts of the case with appellant. It was appellant’s pla[62]*62toon leader who informed the investigators that King had spoken with an attorney who advised him not to talk to the agents.

Appellant, still in Germany, was not reinterviewed until May 10, 1984. By this time he was “titled” as a suspect. Again without making any admissions, he terminated this interview by requesting counsel. It was stipulated in court that another Trial Defense Service lawyer, Captain Mark Frye, was thereupon produced. Frye also refused to enter into an attorney-client relationship, on advice from his Regional Defense Counsel, to avoid temporary duty at Fort Huachuca.3 Frye also advised appellant to remain silent, and Frye refused to discuss the facts of the case with him.4

On that same day, May 10, 1984, appellant was formally restricted to the area of his kaserne, except when escorted by a noncommissioned officer. An impasse between convening authorities then developed. The commander in Germany allegedly refused to try appellant since the events had occurred at Fort Huachuca. The commander at Fort Huachuca allegedly refused to accept assignment of appellant unless he was charged. Sometime in July 1984, the commander of Fort Huachuca agreed to take jurisdiction. CID agents from Fort Huachuca went to Germany on July 31, 1984, and brought appellant back — in custody — on August 3, 1984. At Fort Huachuca, appellant was placed in pretrial confinement, where he remained until trial on March 25, 1985.

On August 4, 1984, appellant was interviewed at Fort Huachuca without notice to any counsel. The investigator knew appellant had terminated the prior interview by requesting counsel, and he knew appellant did not have a lawyer. At this interview, appellant waived counsel and confessed; ultimately, he signed a written statement. On August 7, 1984, charges were preferred, and appellant was finally appointed counsel.

Speedy Trial

Both the military judge and the Court of Military Review proceeded on the basis that RCM 707(d), Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, 1984, provided an applicable standard for speedy-trial analysis.5 Before this Court, both on brief and in oral argument, appellant and the Government agree that RCM 707(d) is applicable to these facts. At the date of trial, RCM 707(d) stated:

(d) Arrest or confinement. When the accused is in pretrial arrest or confinement under R.C.M. 304 or 305, immediate steps shall be taken to bring the accused to trial. No accused shall be held in pretrial arrest or confinement in excess of 90 days for the same or related [63]*63charges. Except for any periods under subsection (c)(7) of this rule, the periods described in subsection (c) of this rule shall be excluded for the purpose of computing when 90 days has run. The military judge may, upon a showing of extraordinary circumstances, extend the period by 10 days.

Thus, under the language of the rule, the maximum amount of delay that could be attributed to the Government without denying an accused a speedy trial is 100 days. The drastic and only remedy prescribed for violations of the rule is dismissal of the charges. RCM 707(e). But cf. 18 USC § 3162(a) (judge has option to dismiss case with or without prejudice).

August 1, 1984, happened to be the effective date of the 1984 Manual, supra. Exec. Order No. 12,473, 49 Fed.Reg 17152 (1984). Appellant’s restriction in Germany commenced on May 10, 1984, and extended past August 1.6 On August 3, 1984, CID agents flew appellant to Fort Huachuca. At trial, the parties stipulated to a chronology, a portion of which includes:

01 Aug 84 — New MCM in effect
03 Aug 84 — King in custody of GIB, FRG; pretrial confinement starts
07 Aug 84 — Charge preferred; CPT BeFonte appointed 10, 32(b)

The military judge ruled that appellant’s restriction to the kaserne was not tantamount to confinement; hence, speedy-trial accountability did not begin on May 10 under the old rules. See United States v. Schilf, 1 MJ 251 (CMA 1976). The defense argued that the conditions on appellant’s liberty increased significantly as of August 1, after the CID agents from Fort Huachuca arrived in Germany. Therefore, the defense contended, RCM 707(d) accountability commenced on August 1. The prosecution argued that custody did not occur until August 3, the date the agents actually took appellant into custody for the flight to Arizona.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
30 M.J. 59, 1990 CMA LEXIS 544, 1990 WL 33252, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-king-cma-1990.