United States v. Roman

5 M.J. 385, 1978 CMA LEXIS 9896
CourtUnited States Court of Military Appeals
DecidedOctober 2, 1978
DocketNo. 34,357; NCM No. 74 0296
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 5 M.J. 385 (United States v. Roman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Military 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. Roman, 5 M.J. 385, 1978 CMA LEXIS 9896 (cma 1978).

Opinions

Opinion

COOK, Judge:

Appellant was originally convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to confinement at hard labor for life and accessory penalties. The findings and sentence were approved by the convening authority. In an interim order, dated May 28, 1974, the Navy Court of Military Review held that, although appellant’s mental responsibility had been litigated at trial, evidence submitted after conviction warranted a further inquiry into both his mental responsibility at the time of the offense and his capacity to participate in the proceedings. Subsequently, a sanity board concluded appellant was both mentally responsible for the criminal act and possessed sufficient capacity to participate in the proceedings. In an opinion, dated January 26,1976, the Navy Court of Military Review reversed the conviction on the basis that the Government had improperly denied appellant’s request for defense counsel. A rehearing was conducted and, pursuant to his plea of guilty, appellant was convicted of unpremeditated murder and sentenced to confinement at hard labor for 18 years and accessory penalties. The convening authority, pursuant to the terms of a pretrial agreement, reduced the period of confinement to 10 years and his action was approved by the Court of Military Review. We granted review to determine whether the appellant was denied a speedy trial during the original hearing and whether the change in the standard of mental responsibility set forth in United States [386]*386v. Frederick, 3 M.J. 230 (C.M.A.1977), requires a rehearing.

We first address the speedy trial issue which is raised in the following factual context. Private First Class McCrory was murdered on September 22, 1972, and his remains were found on October 4. Appellant was apprehended in Burley, Idaho, on October 13 and was transferred to Treasure Island on the following day. He consulted with counsel, Lieutenant Johnson, on October 18 and departed Treasure Island on October 23 for Subic Bay, Philippines; the situs of the offense was U.S. Naval Air Station, Cubi Point, Philippines. He arrived at Subic Bay on October 25, where he was placed in pretrial confinement. On October 26 charges were preferred; appellant was informed of the charges and an Article 321 investigating officer was appointed. Appellant also consulted with Lieutenant Cherneff on that date. The initial session of the Article 32 hearing was convened on November 1, but the government counsel requested a continuance for the purpose of preparing for the hearing. On the same date, the appellant also submitted a request for Lieutenant Johnson2 as defense counsel.

The pretrial investigation reconvened on November 3, and appellant was informed by the Article 32 investigating officer that his requested counsel would not be available until a later date. Appellant expressed a desire to await the arrival of this counsel and the Government stated that it was ready to proceed. The Article 32 hearing was held on November 20; the report of that hearing was forwarded on November 29. The pretrial advice of the staff judge advocate was completed on December 15 and the charge was referred to trial on December 27.3 This charge was served on the accused one day later.

The initial Article 39(a)4 session was conducted on January 8,1973. At this time the accused made known his request for Lieutenant Johnson as individual military counsel for the trial and Lieutenant Cherneff as assistant “detailed defense counsel.” A trial date was set for January 15 or the first week in February. The session was adjourned but was reconvened on January 22, 1973; the trial counsel noted that Lieutenant Johnson would not be available until January 25 and the defense asserted that such counsel would not be available until January 26. Trial counsel further noted that the convening authority had orally denied the appellant’s request for Lieutenant Cherneff and that defense counsel had refused to permit appellant’s participation in a sanity board evaluation5 until the Government acted on a defense request to have appellant transferred to the Continental United States for evaluation by a civilian psychiatrist. The Article 39(a) session was adjourned and reconvened on January 29, 1973, with Lieutenant Johnson present. The defense renewed its request for Lieutenant Cherneff and requested seven named witnesses. The military judge granted the request for two, but denied the request as to the remaining five. The defense also moved to have the case tried as non-capital.6 Both the defense and the Government indicated that they desired additional time to prepare their arguments on the defense motion. The Article 39(a) session terminated and reconvened on January 30, at which time the defense moved for the military judge to direct the convening authority to appoint Lieutenant Cherneff as assistant detailed counsel and to have the appellant transferred to Treasure Island for a psychiatric examination by a civilian psy[387]*387chiatrist. Both motions were denied by the military judge, who directed trial counsel to supply a list of qualified psychiatrists located in the Philippines. The hearing was adjourned, but reconvened on February 28 when the trial counsel brought up the possibility of appellant’s being examined by a sanity board. The defense renewed its motion to have appellant transferred to the United States for the purpose of a psychiatric evaluation. The military judge again denied the motion and directed that a sanity board be convened on or before March 12 and set a trial date for March 21. The defense submitted an additional request for witnesses, which was denied by the military judge. The Article 39(a) session adjourned and reconvened on March 9, when the defense made an additional motion for two witnesses to testify in extenuation and mitigation. This motion was denied by the military judge. Trial counsel noted the Government’s efforts relating to the sanity board and observed that the defense counsel had cancelled a scheduled interview with one of the psychiatrists involved in the sanity board evaluation. The Article 39(a) session was adjourned at this time and reconvened on March 26 when the trial counsel observed that the defense had expressed a desire that appellant be examined by a second civilian psychiatrist. The appellant had previously been examined by a civilian psychiatrist located in the Philippines. The Article 39(a) session was then adjourned and reconvened on March 29, when the accused submitted a motion to dismiss on the basis he had been denied a speedy trial. This motion was denied by the military judge.

Although the speedy trial issue was raised and litigated during the original hearing, it was not raised during the rehearing. Government counsel submit that the failure to raise a speedy trial issue during a. rehearing as it relates to an original hearing constitutes a waiver of such issue upon further appellate review. See United States v. Sloan, 22 U.S.C.M.A. 587, 48 C.M.R. 211 (1974); see generally United States v. Flint, 1 M.J. 428 (C.M.A.1976). However, we need not now resolve that issue as the record before us, which includes the transcript of the original hearing, reflects that appellant was accorded a speedy trial.

In the present case the appellant was in continuous confinement from the date of his apprehension on October 13, 1972, to the date of the speedy trial motion, which was made on March 29, 1973.

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Bluebook (online)
5 M.J. 385, 1978 CMA LEXIS 9896, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-roman-cma-1978.