United States v. McClain

22 M.J. 124, 1986 CMA LEXIS 17474
CourtUnited States Court of Military Appeals
DecidedMay 5, 1986
DocketNo. 47554/AR; CM 443716
StatusPublished
Cited by84 cases

This text of 22 M.J. 124 (United States v. McClain) 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. McClain, 22 M.J. 124, 1986 CMA LEXIS 17474 (cma 1986).

Opinions

Opinion

EVERETT, Chief Judge:

Private First Class McClain was tried in November and December 1982 by a general court-martial sitting at Nellingen Barracks, Federal Republic of Germany. After he had pleaded guilty to rape and forcible sodomy, in violation of Articles 120 and 125, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. §§ 920 and 925, respectively, he was sentenced to a dishonorable discharge, confinement for 20 years, total forfeitures, and reduction to the lowest enlisted grade. Pursuant to a pretrial agreement, the con-[125]*125veiling authority reduced the confinement to 7 years but in all other respects he approved the trial results. The Court of Military Review affirmed, over the dissent of Judge Watkins. Before us now is this issue:1

WHETHER APPELLANT WAS DENIED DUE PROCESS OF LAW BY THE SYSTEMATIC EXCLUSION OF ENLISTED PERSONNEL BELOW THE RANK OF E-7 AND OF JUNIOR OFFICERS AS COURT-MARTIAL MEMBERS.

I

On August 10, 1982, Colonel Carroll Tichenor, the staff judge advocate for YII Corps, transmitted to the commanding general a disposition form recommending that “[t]o avoid constant interruptions and last minute selections of court members, it is acceptable that you choose a standing list of enlisted court members” for service on general and special courts-martial in the Stuttgart area. “These enlisted members would serve on a court should an accused request an enlisted jury.” Enclosed was a selection list containing the name, grade, organization, job title, date of rank, rotation date, race, and sex of 54 enlisted persons, who ranged from sergeant major (E-9) down through specialist four (E-4) and had been nominated by subordinate commanders. However, the memorandum advised the commanding general that

you may select anyone in your jurisdictional area and are not bound by the inclosed selection list of individuals nominated by your subordinate commanders. In making your selections, you should consider those nominees best qualified for duty by reason of age, education, training, length of service and judicial temperament (Art. 25, UCMJ). All nominees appear to meet these requirements.

Colonel Tichenor also recommended that the commander “select four primary enlisted members from the inclosed list ... and four alternates ... to serve on future general courts-martial when requested in the Stuttgart area.” Likewise, he suggested that “four primary enlisted members ... and four alternates” be selected to “serve on future BCD special courts-martial when requested in the Stuttgart area.”

Consistent with the memorandum from his staff judge advocate, the convening authority appointed two standing panels with enlisted persons — one panel to serve in general courts-martial and the other in special courts-martial authorized to adjudge a bad-conduct discharge. Each person selected had been on the list; and each was in the rank of E-7, E-8, or E-9.

McClain’s case was referred in October 1982 to a general court-martial composed solely of officers. Later, when appellant requested that the membership of his court-martial include enlisted persons, the convening authority added four enlisted members. These were in the top three grades — a first sergeant, two master sergeants, and a sergeant first class — and had previously been selected by the convening authority as primary or alternate enlisted members for general courts-martial. A major, a captain, and a warrant officer, who had been originally detailed to hear the case, were relieved by the convening authority. Two colonels who had originally been appointed to the court-martial but were unavailable for the trial were replaced with two other colonels.

After appellant’s arraignment, defense counsel contested the manner of appointment of the enlisted members. A motion for appropriate relief sought withdrawal of charges, utilization of an all-inclusive process for nominating and selecting enlisted members, and selection of a court-martial panel representing a cross-section of the entire enlisted community. Appellant claimed that, on the advice of his staff judge advocate, the convening authority had improperly excluded enlisted persons below the grade of E-7 and junior officers [126]*126from appointment to court-martial panels in violation of Article 25, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 825.

The defense counsel noted, however, that McClain’s request for enlisted members was “contingent” on the military judge’s ruling on the motion for appropriate relief. The military judge agreed that, if he ruled adversely to McClain, he would allow appellant the opportunity to decide whether he still wished to have enlisted members on the court.

Determination of the defense motion was based chiefly on this stipulation as to Colonel Tichenor’s expected testimony:

I have been the Staff Judge Advocate for HQ, VII Corps since July 1980. During this period of time, I have observed that there have been a variety of unusual sentences from both officer and enlisted member court-martial panels. Some of these sentences included two to five years confinement at hard labor with no discharge, total forfeiture of all pay and allowances and restoration to duty, and some very lenient sentences where the individual had been convicted of serious felony crimes. There were repeated rumors that many of these seemingly unusual sentences stemmed from young officers and young enlisted members who had little experience in the military. Two senior officers who had served on several court-martial panels advised me as they were departing this command that the junior officers and junior enlisted members of the panels were most often the proponents and advocates of these very lenient and unusual sentences.
At the time I presented LTG Livsey with the list of nominees (attached) for him to select the General and BCD Special officer and enlisted members in August 1982, I advised him of the criteria that was to be used in making his selection, i.e., those who were the best qualified by reason of age, education, training, length of service, and judicial temperament. I further reminded him of the nature of the information that had come to my attention that indicated that the junior officers and enlisted members did not possess these qualifications and that he should consider this information at the time he made his selections. I recommended that he give preference to selecting those individuals who were older and had been in the service longer, over those who were relatively junior in age and experience. LTG Livsey specifically asked whether such action was lawfully within his discretion and I advised him that it was if he determined that such a selection was appropriate under the criteria outlined to him in the DF (attached). LTG Livsey considered the unusual sentences at the time he made his selections. On 30 November 1982, I discussed the selection of court-martial panel members with LTG Livsey. He stated that when he made the initial selection of the officer and enlisted members of the court-martial panels, he followed the advice given in the DF from me dated 10 August 1982. He stated that he selected those he believed were best qualified by reason of age, education, training, length of service, and judicial temperament.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
22 M.J. 124, 1986 CMA LEXIS 17474, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-mcclain-cma-1986.