United States v. Mead

16 M.J. 270, 1983 CMA LEXIS 18011
CourtUnited States Court of Military Appeals
DecidedSeptember 6, 1983
DocketNo. 43041; NMCM No. 81-2495
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 16 M.J. 270 (United States v. Mead) 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. Mead, 16 M.J. 270, 1983 CMA LEXIS 18011 (cma 1983).

Opinions

Opinion of the Court

EVERETT, Chief Judge:

On February 10,1981, appellant was tried by a special court-martial, consisting of military judge alone, on nine specifications of a charge drawn under Article 92, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. § 892. The specifications alleged that on November 14, 1980, Mead had violated Article 1151, U.S. Navy Regulations, 1973, by wrongfully possessing, transferring, or selling marihuana. The judge found appellant guilty on five of these specifications and sentenced him to a bad-conduct discharge, confinement at hard labor and forfeiture of $334.00 pay per month for 6 months.

On March 18,1981, the convening authority — having observed that “there exists in the record an apparent omission in procedure with respect to the findings” — directed “a proceeding in revision ... to determine whether the military judge took judicial [271]*271notice of Article 1151, U.S. Navy Regulations.” Upon convening the proceeding on March 23, 1981, the judge noted that “the record does not indicate whether I took judicial notice of Article 1151, U.S. Navy Regulations, 1973, in this case prior to findings,” and then stated:

So, let me indicate clearly on the record as follows: At the time that evidence was being introduced by the government on the merits during the government’s case in chief, I was at that time aware of the existence of Article 1151, U.S. Navy Regulations, 1973. Further, I was aware of the terms of the article and of the article’s existence at the time of the offenses alleged. I then believed, as I believe now, that, as a matter of law, Article 1151, U.S. Navy Regulations, 1973, was, and is, a lawful and a general regulation.
Now, in finding the accused guilty of these offenses, I found all elements of the offenses alleged to have been proved by legal and competent evidence beyond a reasonable doubt and, of course, in making such findings, I found beyond a reasonable doubt that Article 1151, U.S. Navy Regulations, 1973, was in effect at the time of the offenses. I found beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused was a person who had a duty to obey the regulation and, of course, I was aware of the terms as they operate as elements under the offenses.
Now, of course, I did not indicate I was taking judicial notice prior to findings and, of course, in that sense, the military rules of evidence may have been violated, depending on whether one considers that an adjudicative fact or taking judicial notice of law and, if it’s taking judicial notice of law, there’s some question, of course, whether the procedures under Military Rule of Evidence 201 apply at all. However, let me indicate that I now do take judicial notice of Article 1151, U.S. Navy Regulations, 1973, and I do note that it was in existence at the time of the offenses alleged.
Now, I’m taking this judicial notice under the provisions of Military Rule of Evidence 201(c), as such procedural requirements are mandated under both Military Rules of Evidence 201 and 201A. Now, I’m taking this because it’s my interpretation of the military rules of evidence that judicial notice can be taken at any stage of the proceedings and this is a stage of the proceedings. Consequently, defense counsel, you now have an opportunity to be heard.

The defense position was that the revision proceeding fell outside the scope of Article 62, U.C.M.J., 10 U.S.C. § 862, and prejudiced appellant’s rights. Defense counsel relied especially upon United States v. Williams, 3 M.J. 155 (C.M.A.1977),1 which “clearly states that failure to take judicial notice on the part of the government [sic] is fatal error.” According to defense counsel, “the government failed to prove one of the material elements of the offense”; and this failure could not be rectified by a revision proceeding.

The military judge inquired whether defense counsel would have objected if “judicial notice had been stated clearly on the record prior to the entry of findings”; and defense counsel responded in the negative, noting that “[t]he objection is [to] taking judicial notice at this point.” Thereupon, the judge ruled, “I still will take judicial notice, and have taken judicial notice, in this proceeding of Article 1151, U.S. Navy Regulations of 1973”; and he adhered to his previously announced findings and sentence. The judge acknowledged that the revision proceeding was “apparently deemed advisable by the convening authority due to the WILLIAMS decision.” However, he believed that Williams had been based erroneously on the Supreme Court’s decision in Gamer v. Louisiana, 368 U.S. [272]*272157, 82 S.Ct. 248, 7 L.Ed.2d 207 (1961), which he believed “concerned adjudicative facts, which were facts which certainly could have been contested by the defense counsel” and “did not involve judicial notice of legislative facts or judicial notice of law.” The judge also noted that our Court’s decision in Williams had preceded adoption of the Military Rules of Evidence. In concluding his opinion from the bench, the judge remarked:

[Hjaving taken judicial notice, or having stated it on the record prior to findings, was a desirable but, nonetheless, unnecessary procedural portion of this trial for the simple reason it seems clear that there would have been no opportunity or no likelihood the defense could have issued any sort of evidence to indicate that Article 1151 was either not a lawful general regulation or was not in existence at the time of the trial.

Then, after noting that the defense counsel had “a continuing objection ... to the proceedings and to taking judicial notice at this point,” the revision proceeding was adjourned.

The convening authority approved the findings and sentence as adjudged by the military judge. Thereafter, in reviewing the case, the staff judge advocate to the supervisory authority discussed judicial notice in some detail and concluded that the judge had acted properly in judicially noticing Article 1151 of the U.S. Navy Regulations. Furthermore, he questioned the rationale of United States v. Williams, supra, “and its current validity, following the 1980 implementation of the Military Rules of Evidence.” Pursuant to his recommendation, the officer exercising general court-martial jurisdiction approved the findings and sentence, as approved by the convening authority.

Before the United States Navy-Marine Corps Court of Military Review, appellant continued to attack the military judge’s taking judicial notice of the general regulation during the revision proceeding. However, in a per curiam opinion, the court below affirmed the findings and sentence. Subsequently, we granted review of these three issues:

I
WHETHER THE USE OF A PROCEEDING IN REVISION TO ACCOMPLISH PROOF OF AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF THE CHARGED OFFENSES WAS ERROR, REQUIRING THE CONCLUSION THAT APPELLANT’S GUILT OF THE OFFENSES WAS NEVER PROPERLY PROVED.
Specified Issue 1

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Bluebook (online)
16 M.J. 270, 1983 CMA LEXIS 18011, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-mead-cma-1983.