United States v. Leak

58 M.J. 869, 2003 CCA LEXIS 162, 2003 WL 21709654
CourtArmy Court of Criminal Appeals
DecidedJuly 23, 2003
DocketARMY 20000356
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 58 M.J. 869 (United States v. Leak) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Army Court of Criminal 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. Leak, 58 M.J. 869, 2003 CCA LEXIS 162, 2003 WL 21709654 (acca 2003).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

HARVEY, Senior Judge:

A panel of officer members sitting as a general court-martial convicted appellant, contrary to his pleas, of maltreatment (three specifications), rape, adultery (two specifications), indecent assault, indecent acts, and solicitation to commit adultery in violation of Articles 93, 120, and 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. §§ 893, 920, and 934 [hereinafter UCMJ]. The convening authority approved the adjudged sentence to a dishonorable discharge, confinement for sixty-one months, forfeiture of $200 pay per month for sixty months, and reduction to Private El. This case is before the court for review under Article 66, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 866.

We agree with appellant’s first assignment of error that there is insufficient evidence of force for us to affirm appellant’s guilt of rape on 12 September 1999. However, we will affirm a guilty finding of the lesser included offense of indecent assault because indecent assault does not include the same requirement of force as rape. We also hold that there is insufficient evidence to establish appellant’s guilt of indecent acts on 21 September 1999 because of a lack of evidence that appellant’s sexual intercourse with a military subordinate occurred in a public place. However, there is sufficient evidence to affirm the lesser included offense of conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline because of appellant’s status as a noncommissioned officer. We will reassess the sentence in our decretal paragraph.

FACTS

Specialist (SPC) M’s testimony was the primary basis for appellant’s conviction. The guilty findings related to three incidents of sexual activity between appellant and SPC [871]*871M during her attendance as a student at the thirty-day Primary Leadership Development Course (PLDC)1 at the 7th Army Noncommissioned Officer (NCO) Academy in Grafenwoehr, Germany. At the time of her attendance, SPC M had been on active duty between four and five years. She was a single parent of a fifteen-month old son. Specialist M was 65 inches tall and weighed approximately 130 pounds, and appellant was 71 inches tall and weighed approximately 188 pounds. At the time of the offenses, appellant was a thirty-four-year-old Small Group Leader (SGL) at the NCO Academy. However, he was not a member of SPC M’s platoon; he was not her SGL or instructor. He did not rate her. On all three occasions, while appellant and SPC M were wearing battle dress uniforms, appellant initiated sexual activity with SPC M in the third floor SGL office during breaks between SPC M’s classes.

10 September Offenses

Before 10 September 1999, appellant went out of his way to engage SPC M in personal conversations. During this time period, SPC M complained to appellant that her roommate was spreading a rumor that she was fraternizing with another student. Specialist M asked for appellant’s help with her roommate. Appellant responded that he could “get anyone kicked out” of PLDC, and SPC M assumed that appellant would have her roommate dismissed from the course. However, her roommate was not dismissed from the course.

Appellant used two offices at the NCO Academy, one located on the first floor and one on the third floor. The first time appellant asked SPC M to go to the third floor SGL office, she said “no.” Later when he asked her to go there, she agreed because she did not “feel like [she] had a choice.” Once in the third floor SGL office, appellant asked SPC M what her intentions were toward him. She asked what he meant; appellant repeated the same question. They went near a couch. He put his arms around her, pulled her close, and kissed her. She put her hands on his chest to “put space between [them]” and leaned back. Appellant then said he wanted to have sex with her. He held SPC M’s wrist and started “groping” her and tried to undo her pants and belt buckle. Specialist M told him “no” and said, “I know you don’t think you’re going to get me that easily.” She “wrestled” with appellant, preventing him from removing her trousers. This testimony was the basis for appellant’s conviction of one specification each of maltreatment, indecent assault, and solicitation to commit adultery.

Appellant told SPC M that he wanted to masturbate before she left the room. He got some toilet paper and she sat on the couch. Appellant masturbated in front of her until he ejaculated. He cleaned himself with toilet paper and she left the room. She testified that she did not cry out during the incident because she was nervous. She was afraid to run for the door because she did not know what he would do. She did not report appellant’s behavior because she was afraid that he might lie about her, causing her dismissal from PLDC.2 3 Specialist M emphasized her responsibility to her infant son, stating, “I’m a single parent ... [and I] had to do what is best for both of us.” Appellant was not charged with any specific offense for masturbating in SPC M’s presence.

After this first incident on 10 September 1999, SPC M “acted like nothing happened” and “blew it off.” She still smiled at appellant and was courteous to him.

12 September Offenses

Appellant asked SPC M to go to his third floor office two days later. They each went to his office separately. Specialist M went “because [she] thought [she] could talk [her way] out of it again.” Appellant locked the door and left the key in the lock, precluding others who shared the office from entering [872]*872during the sexual activity.4 He said he “wanted [her],” but SPC M laughed and said, “I don’t have time for this.” He replied that she had twenty minutes between classes. Appellant grabbed SPC M and wrestled with her, trying to get her trousers down. She said “no” more than once. Appellant held one of her wrists and tried to unbuckle her trousers with his other hand.

As this was occurring, SPC M decided, “ ‘I’m not going to win this battle.’ I was not going to try to fight him, so I let him have sex with me.” She was surprised when appellant took a condom out of the desk. She noticed he had a box and a bag containing condoms. Specialist M accused appellant of “setting her up” and “bringing other females up there.” He denied that he was setting her up and asserted “that he never did anything like that before.” They engaged in sexual intercourse on the desk. He ejaculated, removed the condom, and wrapped it in a tissue. She pulled up her trousers, unlocked the door, and left.

Specialist M testified that she let appellant have sex with her because she was worried that appellant might dismiss her from PLDC for having a bad attitude given that she already had trouble with her roommate. Appellant was found guilty of one specification each of maltreatment, rape, and adultery for his conduct on 12 September 1999.

21 September Offenses

On the third occasion, appellant gave SPC M a key and asked her to meet him at the third floor SGL office after lunch.

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Related

United States v. Leonhardt
76 M.J. 821 (Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals, 2017)
United States v. Leak
61 M.J. 234 (Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, 2005)
Commonwealth v. Coleman
854 A.2d 978 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
58 M.J. 869, 2003 CCA LEXIS 162, 2003 WL 21709654, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-leak-acca-2003.