United States v. Pappas

30 M.J. 513, 1990 CMR LEXIS 189, 1990 WL 18584
CourtU S Air Force Court of Military Review
DecidedFebruary 16, 1990
DocketACM 27834
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 30 M.J. 513 (United States v. Pappas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U S Air Force 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. Pappas, 30 M.J. 513, 1990 CMR LEXIS 189, 1990 WL 18584 (usafctmilrev 1990).

Opinion

DECISION

LEONARD, Judge:

Appellant was found guilty by court members of use of cocaine based on a positive urine sample submitted during a unit urinalysis inspection. His basis for appeal is that the unit urinalysis inspection did not meet the requirements of equal protection under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution or Mil.R. Evid. 313(b) and the military judge erred in denying his motion to suppress the positive test results on the urine sample taken from him during that inspection. We disagree and find no merit to appellant’s assertions.

In his first attack, the appellant, an enlisted person, maintains that he was denied equal protection under the law because his commander’s order to produce a urine sample for the inspection was not equally enforced with respect to the officer and enlisted personnel selected for testing.

The appellant was a new arrival at the Torrejon Air Base Hospital. The squadron section commander and commander had decided before his arrival to conduct a urinalysis inspection of the unit. Approximately one-third of the unit personnel were officers. The commander’s final order listed 28 officers and 46 enlisted personnel who had been identified by a random selection process for urinalysis testing. Nine of the persons listed on the commander’s order failed to appear and submit a urine specimen. Two individuals had been reassigned out of the unit and two individuals had not yet arrived. Two officers and one enlisted person were on temporary duty assignments (TDY) at other locations. One officer was on a break and another officer was still in-processing to the unit and not present for duty. Although the appellant was also still in-processing, he was located and he provided a specimen on the testing date. The final count of individuals tested was 22 officers and 45 enlisted personnel.

The Base Urinalysis Testing Program Operating Instruction provided that personnel who were absent on the testing date due to leave or TDY, would be tested upon their return to duty with the unit. However, the two officers and one enlisted person who were TDY, the officer on break and the officer in-processing were not tested when they returned to duty. The parties stipulated that the failure to test these individuals was not due to a conscious decision or affirmative action on the part of the commander, squadron section commander or first sergeant, but was the result of “command oversight and inattention” to the responsibilities contained in the Base Urinalysis Testing Program Operating Instruction.

After considering the evidence presented on this matter, the military judge found no discrimination in favor of officers with respect to the urinalysis testing procedure used to secure appellant’s urine sample, and he denied appellant’s motion to suppress his positive urinalysis result. Appellant maintains that the military judge erred because command “discretionary inaction” with respect to officers selected for testing at the same time as the appellant resulted [515]*515in a violation of appellant’s Fifth Amendment rights to equal protection under the law.

A violation of equal protection under the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment based on constitutionally suspect classifications or involving encroachments on fundamental constitutional rights will be subject to strict judicial scrutiny. United States v. Batchelder, 442 U.S. 114, 99 S.Ct. 2198, 60 L.Ed.2d 755 (1979); United States v. Means, 10 M.J. 162 (C.M.A.1981). An accused alleging that unjustifiable discrimination by the government violates Fifth Amendment due process must present some evidence that the government is making a distinction based on a suspect classification or that encroaches on fundamental rights. United States v. Rodriguez-Amy, 19 M.J. 177 (C.M.A.1985).

We agree with the military judge’s finding that the appellant failed to present any evidence establishing any conscious distinction made by the government that amounted to discrimination in favor of officers or against enlisted personnel with respect to appellant’s urinalysis. Even if the appellant had been able to present evidence of conscious discrimination in favor of officers or against enlisted personnel in the conduct of the urinalysis, it would not have risen to the level of a Fifth Amendment due process violation. Appellant concedes that such discrimination would not have encroached on a constitutionally protected fundamental right. Further, the distinction between military officers and enlisted personnel is not a constitutionally suspect classification. 10 M.J. at 165. Therefore, as the appellant correctly points out, any discrimination in favor of officers in the testing procedure would not be subject to a strict scrutiny standard. The correct test to be applied would be to determine whether a legitimate government interest was being accomplished by reasonable or rational means. Dandridge v. Williams, 397 U.S. 471, 90 S.Ct. 1153, 25 L.Ed.2d 491 (1970). Urinalysis testing of members of a unit to ensure the fitness of individual members to perform their duties and to ensure the ability of the unit to discharge its Air Force missions is advancement of a legitimate government interest. Further, in performing urinalysis testing of personnel assigned to a hospital, a commander could have a number of valid rational and reasonable reasons to excuse certain classes or types of personnel, such as officers or certain officers providing critical health care, from testing without creating an equal protection violation of the Fifth Amendment.

The second assertion of error is that the urinalysis inspection in which appellant provided his positive urine sample was not a valid inspection under Mil.R.Evid. 313(b) and the military judge should have suppressed his test results. Appellant’s position is that the purpose of the inspection was to locate contraband and the inspection procedures subjected the appellant to a greater degree of intrusion than the officer who was in the same status as appellant, i.e. in-processing. Therefore, appellant maintains that the military judge erred in refusing to require the government to prove the legitimacy of the inspection by clear and convincing evidence. To support his argument, appellant relies on the case of United States v. Parker, 27 M.J. 522 (A.F.C.M.R.1988).

Appellant’s reliance on Parker is only partially correct. Mil.R.Evid. 313(b) provides that an examination made for the primary purpose of obtaining evidence for use in a trial by court-martial is not a valid inspection. The rule then establishes a three step test to apply to inspections that may be suspect. The first step of the test is to determine whether a purpose of the inspection is to locate weapons or contraband. If such a purpose is not present, this factor weighs in favor of a valid inspection and the government’s burden of proof is only by a preponderance of the evidence. MCM, App. 22, Rule 313, A22-24 (1984).

In Parker, our court concluded that urinalysis inspections are specifically designed to detect the presence of contraband, i.e. use of controlled substances. 27 M.J. at 525. This conclusion is supported by the [516]*516drafter’s analysis of the rule which provides:

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Bluebook (online)
30 M.J. 513, 1990 CMR LEXIS 189, 1990 WL 18584, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-pappas-usafctmilrev-1990.