United States v. Luke

63 M.J. 60, 2006 CAAF LEXIS 427, 2006 WL 909994
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Armed Forces
DecidedApril 7, 2006
Docket05-0157/NA
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 63 M.J. 60 (United States v. Luke) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Luke, 63 M.J. 60, 2006 CAAF LEXIS 427, 2006 WL 909994 (Ark. 2006).

Opinions

Judge EFFRON

delivered the opinion of the Court.

At a general court-martial composed of officer and enlisted members, Appellant was convicted, contrary to his pleas, of two specifications of indecent assault, in violation of Article 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), 10 U.S.C. § 934 (2000). He was sentenced to a bad-conduct discharge and confinement for two years. The convening authority approved these results, and the United States Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed in an unpublished opinion. United States v. Luke, No. NMCCA 200000481, 2004 CCA LEXIS 218, 2004 WL 2187577 (N.M.Ct.Crim.App. Sept. 28, 2004).

[61]*61On Appellant’s petition, we granted review and held oral argument on two issues.1 II.Subsequently, we granted review of the following supplemental issue:

WHETHER APPELLANT’S CONVICTION CAN BE AFFIRMED BY THIS COURT IN LIGHT OF THE FACT THAT EVIDENCE OF FRAUDULENT TESTING OF DNA HAS BEEN NEWLY DISCOVERED.

For the reasons set forth below, we hold that Appellant has brought forth sufficient evidence to warrant further inquiry under United States v. DuBay, 17 C.M.A. 147, 37 C.M.R. 411 (1967), as to whether a Government forensic examiner contaminated Appellant’s DNA sample or otherwise falsified pertinent test results. In view of our disposition on the supplemental issue, it would be premature to address the first two granted issues at this time.

I. FACTS

A. BACKGROUND

Appellant served as a hospital corpsman aboard the USS PORT ROYAL. Appellant was charged with indecently assaulting a female shipmate, Seaman Recruit N. The chain of events leading to the charged offense began when Seaman Recruit N’s boyfriend, Fireman A, sought medical treatment from Appellant for a stomach pain. Appellant, in the course of examining Fireman A, noticed a skin rash on Fireman A. During a discussion about possible causes of the rash, Fireman A told Appellant that he was in a sexual relationship with Seaman Recruit N.

Seaman Recruit N testified that she went to the ship’s medical spaces later that day because Appellant told her that she needed to be examined for a sexually transmitted disease. According to Seaman Recruit N, Appellant directed her into a back room, where he had her lie on a bed. She stated that Appellant, under the guise of performing a medical examination, sexually assaulted her.

Appellant’s testimony provided a different version of what happened after Fireman A revealed his relationship with Seaman Recruit N. According to Appellant, he informed Fireman A that he would have to report the relationship to the command. Fireman A tried to dissuade Appellant from making a report and then left the medical spaces. Appellant stated that Seaman Recruit N later arrived at the medical spaces because she was looking for Fireman A. According to Appellant, she went into the back room of the medical spaces, and then emerged teary-eyed and stated that she was tired of the Navy and was ready to get out. Appellant testified that she then left the medical spaces and that he went to sleep on the bed in the back room.

Seaman Recruit N and Fireman A both testified about the ship’s policy prohibiting relationships with other members of the ship’s company. Each stated that they knew at the time of the charged incident that the relationship was in violation of the policy.

B. DNA EVIDENCE PRESENTED AT TRIAL

In addition to the testimony of Fireman A and Seaman Recruit N, the Government relied upon DNA evidence to convict Appellant. Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents collected the bra that Seaman Recruit N wore on the day of the alleged assault and a bed sheet from the bed where the alleged assault took place. Both were sent to the United States Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory (USACIL) at Fort Gillem, Georgia, for analysis.

Mr. Phillip Mills, then a forensic chemist at USACIL, Fort Gillem, Georgia, testified [62]*62for the prosecution. Mr. Mills explained that he examined the bed sheet and the bra for stains that contained saliva. He stated that each contained cells from which DNA could be obtained, so a portion of each was preserved for another examiner who would perform DNA tests.

The forensic chemist who examined the DNA also testified for the prosecution. She stated that the DNA on the sheet and bra was consistent with a mixture of DNA taken from blood samples of Appellant and Seaman Recruit N. The prosecution also introduced an expert in statistical genetics to interpret the DNA evidence. The expert testified regarding the likelihood that the DNA was from Appellant and Seaman Recruit N, as compared to unknown individuals.

C. POST-TRIAL DEVELOPMENTS

On August 25, 2005, over six years after Appellant’s court-martial and one month pri- or to the oral argument on the two issues originally granted by this Court, USACIL at Fort Gillem, Georgia, issued a memorandum to all staff judge advocates. The memorandum stated in pertinent part:

2. In April 2005, an internal quality control review detected a suspected false entry made by a DNA examiner that made the test invalid. The examiner was suspended from his DNA casework on 3 May 2005. In an inquiry initiated on 2 June 2005, the examiner admitted the false entry.

3. In January 2004, the same examiner was suspended from DNA casework after permitting contamination in his testing process. After retraining, he was returned to casework on 13 September 2004, initially working one case at a time under supervision.

The memorandum contained an attachment that listed the cases in which the examiner performed tests. The list included Appellant’s case.

On October 17, 2005, USACIL at Fort Gillem, Georgia, issued another memorandum to all staff judge advocates detailing improper practices of the examiner. The memorandum stated, in pertinent part:

2. In December 2003, Mr. Phillip R. Mills, a USACIL Forensic DNA Examiner, cross-contaminated and/or switched samples within and between the following cases____

3. Consequently, Mr. Phillip R. Mills, a USACIL Forensic DNA Examiner, was suspended from performing DNA case work from January 2004 through September 2004.

4. In April 2005, Mr. Phillip R. Mills, a USACIL Forensic DNA Examiner, altered documentary evidence in USACIL case number....

5. In April 2005, Mr. Phillip R. Mills, a USACIL Forensic DNA Examiner, entered false data regarding a control sample in USACIL case number____

6. Mr. Phillip R. Mills, a USACIL Forensic DNA Examiner, was suspended from performing forensic DNA analysis at USA-CIL on 3 May 2005; however, he remained an USACIL employee.

7. Mr. Phillip R. Mills, a USACIL Forensic DNA Examiner, admitted to making a false data entry and creating a false document in USACIL case number ... in a written statement made on 2 June 2005.

8. On 9 June 2005, Mr. Phillip R. Mills, a USACIL Forensic DNA Examiner, wrote a memorandum response to the technical review findings in USACIL case number ...; therein, he misrepresented he had examined evidence when he had not.

9. Mr. Phillip R.

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63 M.J. 60, 2006 CAAF LEXIS 427, 2006 WL 909994, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-luke-armfor-2006.