United States v. Paaluhi

50 M.J. 782, 1999 CCA LEXIS 151, 1999 WL 343942
CourtNavy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals
DecidedMay 28, 1999
DocketNMCM 97 00321
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 50 M.J. 782 (United States v. Paaluhi) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Navy-Marine Corps 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. Paaluhi, 50 M.J. 782, 1999 CCA LEXIS 151, 1999 WL 343942 (N.M. 1999).

Opinion

TROIDL, Senior Judge:

A general court-martial with officer members convicted the appellant, contrary to his pleas, of rape, sodomy with a child under the age of 16, and two specifications of indecent acts with a child under the age of 16, in violation of Articles 120, 125, and 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. §§ 920, 925, and 934 (1994). The adjudged sentence includes a dishonorable discharge, confinement for 10 years, and reduction to pay grade E-l. The convening authority approved the sentence as adjudged.

We have carefully reviewed the record of trial, the appellant’s assignments of error, and the Government’s response, and considered the superb oral arguments of appellate counsel. We conclude that the findings and sentence are correct in law and fact and that no error materially prejudicial to the substantial rights of the appellant was committed. Arts. 59(a) and 66(c), UCMJ.

I. Background

From 1990 through 1996, the appellant’s daughter [N], who was 15 years old in 1996, had lived either with the appellant in California or Hawaii, or in Hawaii with her mother, the appellant’s ex-wife, or the appellant’s parents. Prosecution Exhibit 4. On Saturday, 30 March 1996, [N’s] sister gave her a journal as a gift. Id. During the early morning hours of 31 March 1996, [N] made an entry in her journal in which she recounted how she felt after having just had sexual relations with her father. Id. On or about 3 April 1996, [N’s] mother read the journal and reported her findings to the appropriate authorities. Id.; Record at 161. Ms. Kim Holmes, a child sexual abuse investigator with the Hawaii Department of Human Services, Child Protective Services, was notified of the report on 3 April 1996. Record at 116. As was customary, she contacted the responsible agency with criminal investigative jurisdiction, in this case the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). Record at 124, 161. NCIS Special Agent (SA) Deborah Russell arranged for an interview of [N] to take place the next day at the Child Advocacy Center, a facility that had rooms appropriate for the interview of children in a nonthreatening environment. Record at 124-125, 174. The next morning, [N], her mother, and her younger sister traveled to the Child Advocacy Center, where they were introduced to Ms. Holmes, SA Russell, and another NCIS agent. Record at 128, 174-175. Ms. Holmes then interviewed [N] in a private room, telling [N] that the interview was being watched and videotaped by SA Russell and the other NCIS agent, who were located behind a two-way mirror. Record at 127, 175. Ms. Holmes subsequently referred [N] to Mrs. Lynn Kux, a Clinical Social Worker, who met with [N] approximately seven times during the period 1 May through 22 July 1996. Record at 82, 83.

The appellant was placed in pretrial confinement on 5 April 1996. Charge Sheet. Captain [K] was subsequently assigned as the appellant’s detailed defense counsel. Record at 392, 398. During pretrial preparation of the appellant’s case, Captain [K] contacted Lieutenant Hill, a Navy Medical Ser[785]*785vice Corps officer and clinical psychologist assigned to a local military medical clinic. Record at 399, 421, 424. Captain [K] testified that, at the time he contacted LT Hill, he anticipated presenting only a case in sentencing and was looking for an expert to provide testimony favorable to the appellant. Record at 399. Without requesting that the convening authority or military judge assign LT Hill, or any other mental health professional, to assist the defense, Captain [K] convinced LT Hill to meet with and evaluate the appellant, and advised the appellant to cooperate with LT Hill. Record at 395, 399-400. LT Hill faxed a document entitled “Initial Personal History Questionnaire” (Questionnaire) to the appellant, at the Brig, on 31 May 1996. Appellate Exhibit XV; Record at 386. Included with the Questionnaire was a “Statement of Understanding Regarding Limits of Confidentiality within Military Mental Health Departments” (Statement of Understanding). Appellate Exhibit XV; Record at 388, 394. LT Hill ensured that the appellant had read and signed this Statement of Understanding before she commenced her initial interview of him on 5 June 1996. Record at 388, 394. During the course of their meetings, the appellant admitted to LT Hill that he had been having sex with his daughter [N] over about a five-year period of time, but did not give specific details.1 Record at 425.

II. Psychotherapist-Patient Privilege

In his first assignment of error, the appellant asserts that the military judge erred when, over defense objection, he allowed LT Hill to testify concerning admissions made to her during the course of his psychological evaluation. The appellant claimed, both at trial and on appeal, that his communications to LT Hill were protected by a psychotherapist-patient privilege and that the military judge was incorrect in ruling that the psychotherapist-privilege recognized in Federal practice by the Supreme Court in Jaffee v. Redmond, 518 U.S. 1, 116 S.Ct. 1923, 135 L.Ed.2d 337 (1996), was not applicable to court-martial proceedings. He argues that the privilege is applicable pursuant to Military Rules of Evidence 101(b)2 and 501(a)(4),3 Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, (1995 ed.).

The Government, noting that the MCM does not recognize a psychotherapist-patient privilege, and citing United States v. English, 47 M.J. 215, 216 (1997), argues that Jajfee is inapplicable to courts-martial because it was a civil case4 and that a psychotherapist-patient privilege is “contrary to or inconsistent with” Mil.R.Evid. 501(d), which bars the doctor-patient privilege in courts-martial. The Government also argues that, even if the claimed privilege existed, the appellant waived it when he executed the Statement of Understanding prior to making any admissions to LT Hill.5

A military judge’s decision to admit or exclude evidence is generally tested on appeal for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Sullivan, 42 M.J. 360, 363 (1995). We will uphold a military judge’s findings of [786]*786fact unless they are “clearly erroneous” and conduct a de novo review of his conclusions of law. United States v. Meeks, 41 M.J. 150, 161 (C.M.A.1994)(quoting United States v. Davis, 36 M.J. 337, 340 (C.M.A.1993)). Since the issue in this case involves a question of law, we conduct a de novo review of the military judge’s ruling. United States v. Padgett, 48 M.J. 273, 277 (1998).

Having conducted a de novo review, we find that the military judge did not err when he ruled that the appellant’s communications to LT Hill were not protected by a psychotherapist-patient privilege. For the reasons articulated by the Army Court of Criminal Appeals in United States v. Rodriguez, 49 M.J. 528, 532 (Army Ct.Crim.App. 1998), until the President expressly exercises his authority under Article 36(a), UCMJ,6 there is no general psychotherapist-patient privilege applicable to courts-martial.

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Related

United States v. Rodriguez
57 M.J. 765 (Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals, 2002)
United States v. Rodriguez
54 M.J. 156 (Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, 2000)
United States v. Paaluhi
54 M.J. 181 (Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, 2000)

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Bluebook (online)
50 M.J. 782, 1999 CCA LEXIS 151, 1999 WL 343942, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-paaluhi-nmcca-1999.