United States v. Madigan

54 M.J. 518, 2000 CCA LEXIS 221, 2000 WL 1456500
CourtNavy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals
DecidedSeptember 29, 2000
DocketNMCM 99 00636
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 54 M.J. 518 (United States v. Madigan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Navy-Marine Corps 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. Madigan, 54 M.J. 518, 2000 CCA LEXIS 221, 2000 WL 1456500 (N.M. 2000).

Opinion

NAUGLE, Judge:

In accordance with his unconditional pleas, the appellant was convicted by a military judge sitting as a general court-martial of [520]*520disrespect to a noncommissioned officer, ■wrongfully exhibiting child pornography on divers occasions, wrongfully receiving child pornography on divers occasions, and wrongfully possessing child pornography on divers occasions in violation of Articles 91 and 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. §§ 891 and 934. The sentence adjudged included a dishonorable discharge, confinement for 25 months, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and reduction to paygrade E-1. The convening authority approved the sentence as adjudged, but suspended all confinement in excess of ten months for 12 months from the date of trial in accordance with the terms of the pretrial agreement.

We have carefully reviewed the record of trial, the appellant’s four assignments of error, and the Government’s response. We conclude that, except as noted herein, the findings and sentence are correct in law and fact and that no error materially prejudicial to the substantial rights of the appellant remains. Arts. 59(a) and 66(c), UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. §§ 859(a) and 866(c).

The charges in this case arose out of the appellant’s use of his roommate’s computer to download several pornographic photographs that depicted children engaged in “sexually explicit conduct.” 1 Three of the appellant’s assignments of error warrant discussion.2

Incomplete Record of Trial

The appellant asserts that his record of trial is incomplete because the record contains no Article 32, UCMJ, investigation and no Article 34, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 834, letter from the staff judge advocate. That portion of the assigned error relating to the Article 32 investigation lacks merit because the appellant affirmatively waived his right to such an investigation as part of the inducement for the convening authority to enter into a pretrial agreement. Record at 48; Appellate Exhibit I, ¶ 21.

Concerning the absence of the Article 34, UCMJ, advice letter, no objection or motion relating to the absence of this document was raised at trial or during the post-trial review process, nor does the appellant allege that the staff judge advocate’s advice was not prepared as part of the process of referral of the charges. “If no such advice was ever prepared ... the referral of this case to a general court-martial was erroneous. However, the error is not a jurisdictional flaw, is not per se prejudicial error, and mandates reversal only if appellant suffered actual prejudice.” United States v. Blaine, 50 M.J. 854, 856 (N.M.Ct.Crim.App.1999); see also United States v. Murray, 25 M.J. 445 (C.M.A.1988). Appellant has alleged no specific prejudice related to this issue, and we conclude there is none following our careful review of the entire record.3 Art. 59(a), UCMJ. Although it was error not to attach the document to the record, we conclude that the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.

Lesser Included Offense

Although there were no motions at trial, the appellant now argues that the military judge erred by failing to dismiss the specification of possessing child pornography because it is a lesser included offense of the receipt of the same pornography. We disagree.

The appellant entered unconditional guilty pleas to receipt of child pornography (Charge III, Specification 3) and to possession of the same pornography (Charge III, Specification 5). Guilty pleas normally foreclose any subsequent factual disputes as to the offenses. By pleading guilty, an accused [521]*521has essentially conceded that there are no factual issues concerning the separateness of the offenses from one another. United States v. Lloyd, 46 M.J. 19, 23 (1997). As a result, our superior Court has held that “appellate consideration of multiplicity claims is effectively waived by unconditional guilty pleas, except where the record shows that the challenged offenses are ‘facially duplicative.’ ” 4 Id. at 20 (quoting United States v. Broce, 488 U.S. 563, 575, 109 S.Ct. 757, 102 L.Ed.2d 927 (1989)). A determination that charges are facially duplicative is made by reviewing the language of the specifications and the facts in the record pertaining to the charges. United States v. Heryford, 52 M.J. 265, 266 (2000)(citing Lloyd, 46 M.J. at 24). If the charges are facially duplicative, we do not apply the “guilty-plea waiver doctrine.” Lloyd, 46 M.J. at 24.

In this case, both offenses were alleged as violations of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A, and both were specified as occurring “on divers occasions, between on or about 19 December 1997 and on or about 23 January 1998.” Charge Sheet. There were no motions at trial to dismiss either offense based on the status of one offense as a lesser included offense of the other.

While not clear from the specifications, the record in toto indicates the appellant pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2)(A) (Charge III, Specification 3) and possessing child pornography in violation of § 2252A(a)(5)(A) (Charge III, Specification 5). Record at 19-21, 28-42; Prosecution Exhibit 1.5 Further, the record clearly demonstrates that in each instance involving the receipt of these pornographic images, the receipt and the possession are factually distinct. In the case of each image, whether received as a single image only or as one among many received at the same time, the crime of receiving the pornographic images is complete at the time the appellant downloaded the images to view them. It is clear from the record that the appellant’s possession of these images continued long after their receipt, because he had saved the images on the computer and was thus able to display them at will as he chose. We therefore find the receipt of the child pornography to be factually distinct from its possession in the appellant’s case. Because they are not factually the same, we apply waiver in this case.

Assuming arguendo that the specifications are facially duplicative, the elements of receiving child pornography6 under this Code section pertinent to the appellant’s case are that the appellant knowingly received visual depictions of persons under the age of 18 years engaged in sexually explicit conduct, which depictions had moved in interstate commerce by any means. The specification alleging receipt of child pornography includes the allegation that the receipt occurred “in interstate commerce.” Charge Sheet.

However, possession of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
54 M.J. 518, 2000 CCA LEXIS 221, 2000 WL 1456500, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-madigan-nmcca-2000.