United States v. Rogan

19 M.J. 646
CourtU S Air Force Court of Military Review
DecidedNovember 2, 1984
DocketACM 24357
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 19 M.J. 646 (United States v. Rogan) 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. Rogan, 19 M.J. 646 (usafctmilrev 1984).

Opinion

DECISION

MURDOCK, Judge:

This case took place at a small bomb scoring site where the victim, a young female airman, had reported for her first duty assignment just six weeks before. One evening the victim and her boyfriend left the dining hall and went to the boyfriend’s dormitory room where they talked and had sexual intercourse. After some time had passed, the boyfriend decided to go jogging. This angered the victim. She went to her room for a short time and then went to the Noncommissioned Officers’ Club where she talked and circulated. Eventually, she fell into conversation with the appellant whom she had never met. After a time, he suggested they find a better place to talk. They drove to his work site, the base power production plant, located in a shop-style building in a remote part of the base. The building is surrounded by a chain link fence with a locked gate. The appellant showed the victim around the shop and they talked and drank some beer. Before the appellant returned the victim to the dormitory area four hours later, he had humiliated, threatened, sodomized, and raped her.

Based on these events, the appellant was convicted, contrary to his pleas, of rape, sodomy, and adultery. In a bench trial, he was convicted and sentenced to a dishonorable discharge, confinement at hard labor for ten years, and reduction to airman basic. The convening authority disapproved the finding of guilty of adultery but approved the remaining charges and the sentence. Appellant has asserted a number of errors.

I

First, the appellant asserts that the rape and sodomy were multiplicious for sentencing purposes. We disagree. The events which led to these charges occurred while the victim was being held prisoner for about four hours. At least twice during this long period, the appellant committed cunnilingus on the victim and at least once he forced her to accept his penis in her mouth. Finally, during the last few minutes of this captivity, he raped her. Sodomy has frequently been held to be a distinct offense from other sex offenses such as rape and indecent liberties. United States v. Burns, 25 C.M.R. 791 (A.F.B.R.1957); United States v. Cox, 18 M.J. 72 (C.M.A.1984). Sodomy and rape involve different elements and violate different societal norms. It was proper for the judge to consider them separate for sentencing purposes.

The appellant next asserts that the evidence of the victim’s lack of consent is insufficient to support a finding of guilt of rape and sodomy. After hearing all the evidence and observing the witnesses, the victim, and the accused, the judge was convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the victim did not consent to either the intercourse or the sodomy. So are we.

The appellant further argues that it is unconstitutional to punish sodomy which occurs in private between consenting adults as a violation of Article 125, U.C. M.J., 10 U.S.C. § 925. This argument is without merit in this case where the victim did not consent to the sodomy.

II

During trial preparation, the trial counsel discovered that one of the court members was needed as a government witness. It was also discovered that another court member had dated this potential witness for the past three years. The trial counsel recommended that the convening authority replace both these court members.1 The [503]*503military judge and all counsel were aware of the recommendation for substitution when the first Article 39a, U.C.M.J., 10 U.S.C. § 839(a), session was held. Because of this pending substitution, the judge deferred the accused’s election to proceed with judge alone or with members until the final panel had been selected by the convening authority. When the final panel was selected and the names were made known to all trial participants, the appellant elected to be tried by judge alone.

The appellant now asserts that this procedure denied him of the right to voir dire the court members, and that by substituting court members, the convening authority was disqualified from taking action in this case. We see no merit in either assertion.

While it is proper to challenge the process by which court members are selected, the opportunity to challenge arises at trial. Paragraph 62ci, MCM, 1969 (rev). We can see no logical basis for examining those officers who are considered and not chosen by the convening authority, unless there is some reason to believe members have been relieved because of some impermissible motive on the part of the convening authority. In the present case, the defense counsel stated that she had no reason to believe there was any improper motive in removing the members. We hold there was no right to voir dire those members who were relieved.2 The military judge did not in any way limit the opportunity for either side to challenge the court members. Rather, it was the appellant’s election to proceed with judge alone, after the identity of all the court members was finally known, that made voir dire unnecessary.

We also see no merit in the assertion that the convening authority was disqualified to act on this case because of this substitution of court members. Selection and substitution of court members are inherent responsibilities of a convening authority, as are appropriate post trial review and action. Paragraphs 36, 37 and 84, MCM, 1969 (rev).

Ill

Appellant asserts that he was denied effective post-trial assistance of counsel and was prejudiced by the Staff Judge Advocate’s refusal to inquire into the appellant’s expressed lack of continued confidence in his trial defense counsel. This claim is based on a statement in a letter the appellant wrote to the convening authority after trial in which he requested clemency and stated he had not received a fair trial because his counsel did not pursue some “areas that were very important to my defense”.3

The defense has cited several older cases to support their assertion that a dissatisfaction such as the appellant’s mandates returning the case to another convening authority to determine whether the appellant actually lacks confidence in his attorney and desires another attorney to rep[504]*504resent him in post trial matters.4 We believe a better course is to apply the more recently articulated rules on effectiveness of counsel in general. An accused is entitled to be represented by effective counsel throughout the trial proceedings. United States v. Jefferson, 13 M.J. 1 (C.M.A.1982). Obviously, this right extends to post trial representation. The United States Supreme Court recently stated the standards for measuring the effectiveness of counsel in Strickland v. Washington, — U.S. -, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984):

First, the defendant must show that counsel’s performance was deficient. This requires showing that counsel made errors so serious that counsel was not functioning as the “counsel” guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment. Second, the defendant must show that the deficient performance prejudiced the defense. This requires showing that counsel’s errors were so serious as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial, a trial whose result is reliable.

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Bluebook (online)
19 M.J. 646, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-rogan-usafctmilrev-1984.