United States v. Reinecke

31 M.J. 507, 1990 CMR LEXIS 804, 1990 WL 120637
U S Air Force Court of Military Review·Decided July 27, 1990·No. COMR No. 90A-05·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinions

ORDER

LEONARD, Senior Judge:

The military judge dismissed the charge and specification in this case after finding Sergeant Lamer had been denied a speedy trial. R.C.M. 707(e). The government has appealed that ruling. Article 62, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 862. We find the military judge’s ruling to be in error.

In determining whether Sergeant Lamer was denied a speedy trial, the period of contention is a 95 day period from 7 December 1989 through 11 March 1990. The military judge found this period to be attributable to the government. The government maintains that it should have been counted as a defense delay. In order to address the competing contentions and the correctness of the military judge’s ruling, we need to set forth the factual background for this period of delay.

At an Article 39(a), UCMJ, session on 5-6 December 1989, the defense asked the military judge to rule on two matters. First, they requested the military judge to order the government to conduct some scientific testing on an item of evidence. Second, they asked the military judge to rule that they were entitled to a specific expert witness and that the proceedings should be held in abeyance until the government approved and funded the expert.

The requested scientific testing was for an item of evidence the government intended to introduce to corroborate the victim’s testimony. Sergeant Lamer had been charged with raping his step-daughter. The evidentiary item was a blanket from the victim’s bed that had been tested earlier and determined to contain semen stains attributable to Lamer. There were other stains on the blanket and preliminary testing had determined that they were not attributable to the accused or the victim. The defense requested testing at two civilian laboratories to determine if the stains were vaginal fluids and, if so, whether they were attributable to the accused’s wife. The defense’s position was that this scientific evidence had the potential to severely undermine the testimony and credibility of both the victim and the wife.

Inherent in the request for the scientific testing was a need for a delay in the accused’s trial. In the arguments and discussion of this issue, the defense and government agreed that the testing could take as long as six months and that a delay in the trial would be necessary. Prior to the 5 and 6 December sessions, the military judge had denied a defense request for a delay to accomplish the scientific tests. Throughout the record of the 5 and 6 December sessions, it is clearly evident that all parties knew the military judge was being asked to reconsider his prior denial of a delay for the testing. The military judge found that the requested scientific tests were necessary because they could provide exculpatory evidence for the defense. He then granted the defense request that the tests be performed, but added a caveat that, if the first test revealed the stains were not vaginal fluid, he would reconsider his ruling on the second test which was to determine the specific secreter responsible for the stain. The military judge’s ruling did not grant any delay for the testing or discuss the treatment of any delay attributable to the testing.

The second matter impacting the contested time period was the defense’s request for approval and funding of a specific expert consultant/witness. The individual re[509]*509quested was Dr. McGovern, an expert in analysis of the use of suggestive techniques during child witness interviews. It was the defense’s position that there was some indication that suggestive interview techniques and improper use of anatomically correct dolls may have contaminated the child victim and her prior statements. In their view, Dr. McGovern’s approval and funding was necessary to allow the defense to develop this issue before and during the trial.

Prior to the 5 and 6 December sessions, the defense had made two written requests to the convening authority for approval and funding of Dr. McGovern as a consultant or expert witness. Although the convening authority had previously approved and funded Dr. McGovern for another case with a very similar issue, this time the approval was not given. Further, no substitute for Dr. McGovern was offered by the government.

After hearing extensive argument on the issue, the military judge found that Dr. McGovern’s funding and approval were necessary for the preparation of an adequate defense and that the defense had satisfied the relevancy and necessity requirements of R.C.M. 703(d). The military judge ruled as follows:

In light of everything that has transpired so far, therefore, I am directing that the government acquire for the defense and employ the defense requested expert consultant and witness, that being Doctor McGovern. And until that is done, as provided for in R.C.M. 703(d), further proceedings on the case are abated. Once that’s done, the defense can then resume their preparation for the case with the assistance of the expert consultant and we’ll wait on the test results as I’ve indicated.

After adjournment of the December Article 39(a), UCMJ, session, the government considered appealing the military judge’s ruling abating the case. However, no appeal was taken and preparations were undertaken to obtain the scientific tests the military judge had granted the defense. Despite inquiries to the general court-martial convening authority’s staff judge advocate by the assistant trial counsel, no approval and funding of the expert eonsultant/witness was accomplished. When the military judge later asked the trial counsel why the expert was not quickly approved, the trial counsel replied “indecisiveness at the level of 15th Air Force.”

On 6 March 1990, an oral report was received on the first scientific test showing that the suspect stains were not identified as vaginal fluid stains. A written report was received and provided to the defense on 12 March 1990. That same day the defense was notified that Dr. McGovern was approved and funded by the convening authority as a defense consultant/expert witness.

Following notification to the military judge of the test results, a conference call was held on 13 March 1990 to determine if further testing were necessary. The parties could not agree and the military judge asked for written briefs. After receiving both briefs, the military judge, on 11 April 1990, denied further testing and granted a defense request for a delay to allow time for preparation and scheduling of the expert. Initially, he set a trial date of 22 May 1990. With the concurrence of the defense, he later changed the trial date to 8 May 1990; but, because of prior commitments of the trial counsel, the government requested a delay until 15 May 1990. However, the defense expert was unavailable for 15 May so the defense requested and received a 22 May 1990 trial date. On 14 May 1990, the military judge convened an Article 39(a), UCMJ, session to consider a speedy trial motion presented by the defense.

After reviewing the motion and hearing the arguments, the military judge found

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United States v. Reinecke, 31 M.J. 507, 1990 CMR LEXIS 804, 1990 WL 120637 (usafctmilrev 1990).

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32 M.J. 709 (U.S. Army Court of Military Review, 1991)
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32 M.J. 63 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1990)