United States v. Mitchell

51 M.J. 490, 1999 CAAF LEXIS 1257
Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces·Decided September 27, 1999·No. 97-0935/MC·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinions

Judge GIERKE

delivered the opinion of the Court.

This case involves the question whether a convening authority lawfully vacated a suspended sentence based on appellant’s failure to make full restitution as required by a pretrial agreement.1 For the reasons set out [491]*491below, we hold that the convening authority’s action in this case was lawful.

Appellant has two convictions by general courts-martial. This case involves the suspension of a portion of the punishment imposed by his second court-martial and the subsequent vacation of that suspended punishment.

At his first general court-martial, on October 7, 1986, appellant was convicted of an unauthorized absence and nine specifications of bad checks, in violation of Articles 86 and 123a, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 USC §§ 886 and 923a, respectively. The approved sentence provided for a bad-conduct discharge, confinement for 18 months, partial forfeiture of pay for 18 months, and reduction to the lowest enlisted grade. The confinement in excess of 13 months was suspended for 12 months from the date of trial.

After appellant was released from confinement and placed on appellate leave pending completion of appellate review of his first court-martial conviction, he cashed over $30,-000 in bad checks. Some were drawn on his depleted bank account. Others were forgeries, written on the account of Carlos Rodriguez, whose identification card appellant had altered. Appellant was apprehended and confined in the Navy brig at Yokosuka, Japan. He escaped from the brig and remained absent for about 5% years, until customs agents apprehended him on May 27, 1993, as he was entering the United States from Canada in Buffalo, New York.

Appellant was then charged with desertion, escape from confinement, forgery, bad checks, wrongful possession of a fraudulent identification card, and tampering with an identification card, in violation of Articles 85, 95, 123, 123a, and 134, UCMJ, 10 USC §§ 885, 895, 923, 923a, and 934, respectively. The charges were referred to a general court-martial.

Before his second general court-martial convened, appellant negotiated a pretrial agreement in which he offered to plead guilty and to make full restitution for the bad checks. In return, the convening authority agreed to suspend any confinement in excess of 60 months and to suspend any fine for the period of confinement plus 12 months from appellant’s release from confinement. The pretrial agreement includes the following restitution provision:

That I [appellant] agree to make full restitution for the cheeks identified in the charges and specifications in the amount specified below [$30,733.62], That I will make restitution before the one year anniversary date on which findings are announced. I understand and agree that restitution is a specific condition I have offered to induce the convening authority into accepting the sentence limitations of this agreement. I also represent to the convening authority that I have the financial resources and am able to make full restitution. I understand that my representation is a material part of this agreement. I understand and agree that if full restitution is not made before the one year anniversary date on which findings are announced, in the amount specified below, that the convening authority may conduct a vacation hearing in accordance with Article 72 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and Rule[ ] for Courts-Martial 1109, Manual for Courts-Martial (1984), to determine if this condition has been met. I understand that I have the burden to prove full restitution has been made.

The second general court-martial convicted appellant, in accordance with his pleas, of the offenses set out above.2 During the sentencing hearing, appellant made an unsworn statement in which he described his activities during his period of absence. He described a “securities business that [he] established, founded, created at home in Nassau, in the Bahamas.” He also described a car rental business in England. He suggested, without saying so specifically, that these two enterprises were successful, growing businesses. He unequivocally stated that the combination [492]*492of these business assets and money in bank accounts was sufficient to make restitution for all the bad checks.

The court-martial sentenced appellant to a dishonorable discharge, confinement for 10 years, and total forfeitures. In accordance with the pretrial agreement, the convening authority approved the sentence- but suspended confinement in excess of 60 months for the period of confinement plus 12 months from the date of release from confinement. The convening authority also reduced the total forfeitures to forfeiture of $543 pay per month upon appellant’s release from confinement.

On November 28, 1994, appellant requested a 3-month extension of the period for making restitution. On December 20, 1994, the convening authority denied the requested extension but agreed not to vacate the suspension of confinement until the date of the convening authority’s action.

On February 10, 1995, the staff judge advocate (SJA) advised the convening authority that he was not bound by the agreement to suspend the confinement because appellant had failed to make the promised restitution. The convening authority finally took action on May 5,1995,17 months after the trial, and suspended confinement in excess of 60 months in accordance with the pretrial agreement. However, because appellant had failed to make restitution as promised, the convening authority ordered a vacation hearing in accordance with Article 72, UCMJ, 10 USC § 872.

The vacation hearing was conducted on June 5-8, 1995. Appellant declined to have detailed military counsel for the first 2 days of his hearing and insisted on proceeding pro se. For the 3d and 4th days of the hearing, appellant requested and received detailed counsel to act as his “co-counsel.” At the hearing, appellant asserted that when the pretrial agreement was negotiated, he believed he had the means to make restitution, but when he attempted to liquidate his overseas interests, he was unable to obtain sufficient funds to make full restitution. He made restitution in the amount of $4,102.28, far short of the $30,733.62 promised.

At the vacation hearing, appellant relied primarily on his own testimony to support his claim that he was indigent. He testified that at the time of his second general court-martial, his assets consisted of a vehicle worth $10,000-12,000, a bank account worth about $3,000, and “furnishings” worth about $4,000-6,000. Appellant testified that his car rental business and securities business were one-man operations that closed down when he was confined. They were seized by his creditors to satisfy outstanding debts. He testified that the bank applied the money in the bank accounts against his debts. He produced a letter from his sister corroborating his testimony that his car rental business was “now defunct.” Finally, he produced his Ledger Brig Account, showing a zero balance. Appellant produced no documentary evidence showing the value of his assets at the time of trial. He presented no documentary evidence showing the seizure of his businesses and bank accounts or the disposition of his assets.

The hearing officer contacted appellant’s father in Nassau and interviewed him by telephone.

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United States v. Mitchell, 51 M.J. 490, 1999 CAAF LEXIS 1257 (Ark. 1999).

51 M.J. 490 (United States v. Mitchell) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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