United States v. Martens

59 M.J. 501, 2003 CCA LEXIS 17, 2003 WL 21818246
CourtUnited States Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals
DecidedJanuary 17, 2003
DocketACM 34637
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 59 M.J. 501 (United States v. Martens) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Air Force 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. Martens, 59 M.J. 501, 2003 CCA LEXIS 17, 2003 WL 21818246 (afcca 2003).

Opinion

BRESLIN, Senior Judge:

The appellant pled guilty to violating a lawful general regulation on divers occasions by displaying and storing sexually explicit materials on a government computer, violat[502]*502ing 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2)(A) by receiving on divers occasions child pornography that had been transported by computer in foreign commerce, and violating 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(A) by possessing on divers occasions materials containing images of child pornography, in violation of Articles 92 and 134, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. §§ 892, 934. A military judge, sitting alone as a general court-martial, accepted the appellant’s pleas and sentenced him to a bad-conduct discharge, confinement for 28 months, total forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and reduction to E-l. The convening authority approved the sentence as adjudged, and forwarded the case to this Court for review under Article 66(c), UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 866(c).

The appellant now contends that his guilty plea to one of the specifications was improvident for several reasons. He argues that his plea to Specification 1 of Charge II alleging a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2)(A) was improvident because Congress did not intend that provision to apply outside the territorial limits of the United States. He further argues that the plea should be set aside because the providence inquiry did not reveal a factual basis for finding that the materials moved in “foreign commerce” as alleged.

The appellant was on active duty in the United States Air Force (USAF), stationed at Ramstein Air Base (AB), Germany. He worked on Ramstein AB, handling maintenance on weather, ground, and air traffic control systems. There were four computers in his work section with access to the Internet. On several occasions between 30 October 1998 and 3 August 2000, the appellant used a government computer to search the Internet, download, store, and display pornography.

On 26 July 2000, a co-worker using a government computer inadvertently discovered links to pornographic web sites. Subsequently, investigators found about 10,000 pornographic images and stories involving sex with children on the computer, and traced the files to the appellant.

The appellant lived in USAF dormitories, first at Kapaun Air Station (AS) and later at Ramstein AB. He owned a computer, but did not have access to the Internet in his dormitory. A fireman investigating an alarm found a box hidden above the ceiling tiles in the hallway of the appellant’s dormitory. The box contained computer discs, hard drives, letters, and printed documents belonging to the appellant. There were over 900 images of child pornography stored on the computer discs.

The appellant entered into a pretrial agreement with the convening authority. He offered to plead guilty before a military judge, sitting alone, in exchange for a limit on the maximum punishment. The appellant admitted his guilt, and the military judge accepted his pleas. The appellant now contends his guilty pleas cannot stand.

In determining whether a guilty plea is provident, the standard of review is whether there is a “ ‘substantial basis’ in law and fact for questioning the guilty plea.” United States v. Milton, 46 M.J. 317, 318 (1997) (quoting United States v. Prater, 32 M.J. 433, 436 (C.M.A.1991)). See United States v. James, 55 M.J. 297, 298 (2001); United States v. Bickley, 50 M.J. 93, 94 (1999). If the “factual circumstances as revealed by the accused himself objectively support that plea,” the factual predicate is established. United States v. Faircloth, 45 M.J. 172, 174 (1996) (quoting United States v. Davenport, 9 M.J. 364, 367 (C.M.A.1980)). We review a military judge’s decision to accept a guilty plea for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Eberle, 44 M.J. 374 (1996). Of course, a guilty plea does not preclude a constitutional challenge to the underlying conviction. Menna v. New York, 423 U.S. 61, 96 S.Ct. 241, 46 L.Ed.2d 195 (1975).

Extraterritorial Application of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2)(A)

The appellant contends his guilty plea to Specification 1, Charge II, was improvident because the statute does not apply outside the United States. The specification in question (as amended at trial) alleged that the appellant:

did, at or near Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on divers occasions, between on or about 30 October 1998 and on or about 3 August 2000, knowingly receive by means of a computer, child pornography that had [503]*503been transported in foreign commerce, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252A(a)(2)(A), conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.

The statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2)(A), punishes “Any person who ... knowingly receives or distributes — any child pornography that has been mailed, or shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce by any means, including by computer----”

It is well settled that Congress has the authority to enact and enforce laws having effect outside the territorial limits of the United States. EEOC v. Arabian Am. Oil Co., 499 U.S. 244, 248, 111 S.Ct. 1227, 113 L.Ed.2d 274 (1991); Blackmer v. United States, 284 U.S. 421, 436-37, 52 S.Ct. 252, 76 L.Ed. 375 (1932); Church v. Hubbart, 2 Cranch 187, 6 U.S. 187, 234, 2 L.Ed. 249 (1804) (a nation’s “power to secure itself from injury may certainly be exercised beyond the limits of its territory”). The issue before us is one of statutory interpretation — whether Congress intended 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2)(A) to apply to acts committed outside the United States.

The specific section of the statute in question is silent as to its extraterritorial application. The appellant, relying upon the decision in EEOC v. Arabian Am. Oil Co., 499 U.S. at 248, 111 S.Ct. 1227, notes that legislation is presumed to apply only within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States, unless Congress clearly manifests a contrary intent. The appellant argues that we should “infer from congressional silence that the legislature meant to regulate only activities within the nations borders.” We find the argument unpersuasive.

In United States v. Bowman, 260 U.S. 94, 43 S.Ct. 39, 67 L.Ed.

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59 M.J. 501, 2003 CCA LEXIS 17, 2003 WL 21818246, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-martens-afcca-2003.