United States v. McDowell

34 M.J. 719, 1992 CMR LEXIS 106, 1992 WL 21717
CourtU.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Military Review
DecidedJanuary 31, 1992
DocketNMCM No. 91 1762
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 34 M.J. 719 (United States v. McDowell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Military Review primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. McDowell, 34 M.J. 719, 1992 CMR LEXIS 106, 1992 WL 21717 (usnmcmilrev 1992).

Opinions

ORR, Judge:

Contrary to his pleas, the appellant was found guilty by a military judge sitting alone of three specifications of unautho[720]*720rized absence under Article 86, Uniform Code of Military Justice (U.C.M.J.), 10 U.S.C. § 886. On appeal to this Court, the appellant argues that this special court-martial lacked in personam jurisdiction over him because these offenses were committed after his enlistment had expired.

The appellant enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves on 18 February 1983 for 6 years and was called to active duty on 1 September 1986 for 2 years. Four months before his active duty obligation was due to expire, he received a notice from the Commandant of the Marine Corps that he had been selected for continuation on active duty for an additional 3 years as part of the Reserve Full-Time Support (FTS) Program. The notice referred the appellant to certain paragraphs of a Marine Corps Order which described the conditions of service and, in the following paragraph, stated: “If an extension/reenlistment in the Marine Corps Reserve is needed to fulfill your new FTS orders, it must be accomplished prior to the orders being issued.” The notice then asked the appellant to sign the memorandum at the bottom of the page and to return the letter within 30 days as notice of his acceptance of the continuation. The appellant so signed the memo accepting the conditions of the assignment; however, the appellant never signed an extension or reenlisted. Nevertheless, two months before the appellant’s initial active dcuty obligation was to expire, the Commandant issued orders continuing him on active duty until 31 August 1991. The appellant continued to perform his duties as assigned and receive pay past 31 August 1988, past 17 February 1989, and until the unauthorized absences he was convicted of occurred in July and August 1989. At no time does it appear that the appellant objected to his continuation on active duty.

The appellant argued at trial and again before this Court that the court-martial did not have jurisdiction to prosecute him for these offenses, which occurred entirely after his enlistment contract had expired. The appellant appears to concede, however, that he did not object to being retained past his date of separation and that the Government did not have to take any affirmative steps to preserve its jurisdiction over him. United States v. Fitzpatrick, 14 M.J. 394 (C.M.A. 1983). In Fitzpatrick, the Court of Military Appeals stated three situations where the Government would not lose jurisdiction. As to the second of these three, the Court stated: “[T]he Government loses jurisdiction to try a servicemember unless ... after the member’s date of separation, he does not object ‘to his continued retention’....” 14 M.J. at 397.

Despite this language, the appellant argues further that 10 U.S.C. § 672(d) does not give the Commandant (as a designee of the Secretary of the Navy) the power to extend the servicemember beyond his or her enlistment contract without the service-member’s consent. Therefore, we are urged to overturn the appellant’s conviction since the Commandant lacks the authority to unilaterally extend the appellant on active duty beyond his separation date. This argument ignores the fact that the appellant signed the notice accepting his continuation on active duty, continued to perform his duties and draw his pay, and never objected to his continued service. If that is not actual consent, it certainly is implied consent, and we find the appellant comes within the scope of the second of the three scenarios described by the Court of Military Appeals in Fitzpatrick. Article 2(c), Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. § 802(c); Para. (2)(B)(i), Discussion, Rule for Courts-Martial 202(a); see also United States v. Poole, 30 M.J. 149 (C.M.A. 1990) (no “constructive discharge” when a servicemember is retained on duty beyond the end of an enlistment).

Having jurisdiction over the appellant may resolve the threshold question argued by the appellant in his assignment of error, but another fundamental problem is apparent from the record of trial. The only evidence offered by the Government on the merits was two exhibits: Prosecution Exhibit (PE) 1, a copy of the appellant’s enlistment contract; and, PE 2, a page entitled “Offenses and Punishments (NAVMC 118-12)” from the appellant’s service record book. Only the latter contains [721]*721specific information concerning the appellant’s absences, and all three entries concerning the inception of these absences report the date the entry was made and the fact that the appellant was absent in the following format: “UA (AWOL) fr this org since____ Abs rpt by RUC 03007 on UD ... dtd____” 1 Although these entries are in conformity with the administrative requirements of the applicable Marine Corps directive for making such notations on this page of the appellant’s service record book, nowhere in this exhibit or in any other Government evidence is the organization of the appellant at the time of any of his absences reported or identified beyond the “RUC” of the unit reporting the absence. Section 4014.2b(3), Marine Corps Order P1070.12F of 22 February 1990, Subj: MARINE CORPS INDIVIDUAL RECORDS ADMINISTRATION MANUAL.

In each of the specifications where the appellant was found guilty, it is alleged that the appellant was absent from his unit, Marine Aircraft Group 41 (hereinafter “MAG 41”), Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing, located at Naval Air Station, Dallas, Texas. There is no evidence in the record of trial, however, establishing that essential element of these offenses. Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, 1984, Part IV, II 10b(3)(a); United States v. Bowman, 21 U.S.C.M.A. 48, 44 C.M.R. 102 (1971); United States v. Foster, 45 C.M.R. 475 (A.C.M.R.1972); see also United States v. Walls, 1 M.J. 734 (A.F.C.M.R.1975) (variance in proof of accused’s unit fatal because naming a particular organization in the pleading both identifies and limits the offense charged).

The Government argues that we should either infer from the record that the military judge used his common experience to infer that “RUC 03007” corresponds to MAG 41 and was the unit to which the appellant was attached at the time of his absences or take judicial notice of the Marine Corps orders that: (a) define a “RUC” as a reporting unit code identifying a unit, activity, or sub-unit and require the use of a unit diary, Paragraphs 1109, 2001-2003, Marine Corps Order P1080.35H of 19 March 1990, Subj: PERSONNEL REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS MANUAL; (b) require a unit diary entry by a parent command to report an unauthorized absence by a member of that command, Paragraph 5001, Marine Corps Order P5800.8B of 24 December 1984, Subj: Marine Corps Manual for Legal Administration; and, (c) establish the reporting unit code for MAG 41 as “03007”, Chapter 6, page 6-13, Marine Corps Order P1080.20J of 28 September 1987, Subj: Joint Uniform Military Pay System/Manpower Management System Codes Manual. None of these orders was offered in evidence by the Government at trial, and the military judge did not state that he was taking judicial notice of them.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
34 M.J. 719, 1992 CMR LEXIS 106, 1992 WL 21717, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-mcdowell-usnmcmilrev-1992.