United States v. Rosendahl

53 M.J. 344, 2000 CAAF LEXIS 908, 2000 WL 1218708
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Armed Forces
DecidedAugust 25, 2000
Docket99-0584/NA
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 53 M.J. 344 (United States v. Rosendahl) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Rosendahl, 53 M.J. 344, 2000 CAAF LEXIS 908, 2000 WL 1218708 (Ark. 2000).

Opinion

Judge EFFRON

delivered the opinion of the Court.

A general court-martial composed of a military judge sitting alone convicted appellant, pursuant to his pleas, of carnal knowledge and 3 specifications of committing indecent acts with a minor, in violation of Articles 120 and 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 USC §§ 920 and 934, respectively. He was sentenced to a bad-conduct discharge (BCD), confinement for 4 months, forfeiture of $500.00 pay per month for 4 months, and reduction to the lowest enlisted grade. The convening authority approved the sentence and, pursuant to a pretrial agreement, suspended that portion of the forfeitures in excess of $350.00 pay per month for 4 months and reduction below the grade of E-4 for a period of 6 months.

Upon initial review by the Court of Criminal Appeals in April 1997, the case was returned for a new staff judge advocate’s recommendation and convening authority’s action. Following this remand, a different convening authority again approved the sentence and, pursuant to the pretrial agreement, suspended that portion of the forfeitures in excess of $350.00 pay per month for 4 months and reduction below the grade of E-4 for a period of 6 months.

Upon further review, the Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the carnal-knowledge conviction but set aside the findings as to the three indecent-acts specifications and the sentence. 47 MJ 689, 695 (1997). The case was returned to the convening authority, who ordered a rehearing on the indecent-acts specifications and the sentence.

At the rehearing, a new military judge sitting alone convicted appellant, pursuant to his pleas, of the three specifications of committing indecent acts with a minor. At sentencing, the military judge considered both the carnal-knowledge conviction from the original trial and the indecent-acts convictions resulting from the rehearing. Appellant was sentenced to a bad-conduct discharge and reduction to the lowest enlisted grade. The sentence did not include confinement or forfeitures.

The convening authority approved this sentence and, pursuant to the pretrial agreement, suspended reduction below the grade of E-4 for 6 months. The Court of Criminal Appeals in 1999 affirmed these findings and sentence, after ordering relief under United States v. Gorsky 47 MJ 370 (1997).

On appellant’s petition, we granted review of the following issue:

WHETHER APPELLANT IS ENTITLED TO RELIEF FOR SERVING 120 DAYS OF POST-TRIAL CONFINEMENT AS PART OF A SENTENCE WHICH WAS LATER SET ASIDE AND WHERE SUBSEQUENT REHEARING ADJUDGED NO CONFINEMENT.

For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the 1999 decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals.

*346 I. BACKGROUND

A. Sentence limitation considerations at the rehearing

At the outset of the rehearing, the military judge noted that he was “not aware of what the sentence imposed at the earlier hearing was____” Appellant made no motions and entered pleas of guilty to the three specifications alleging indecent acts upon a minor. When asked during the providence inquiry what advice he had given to appellant concerning the maximum sentence, defense counsel disclosed the sentence adjudged at the initial trial and stated, “So, that would be the maximum punishment that he could receive at the rehearing.” Trial counsel concurred. After discussing the continued vitality of appellant’s original pretrial agreement-with counsel, the military judge announced that the maximum sentence at the rehearing would be the sentence “adjudged” at the original trial.

During defense counsel’s sentencing argument, defense counsel briefly mentioned that appellant had served a period of confinement for his crimes: “Petty Officer Rosendahl has been punished for this once. He went to the brig. He was released.” The military judge when announcing the sentence did not state on the record whether he credited any punishment previously served when he adjudged the sentence at the rehearing.

B. The convening authority’s action

In his clemency petition to the convening authority following the rehearing, defense counsel requested disapproval of the bad-conduct discharge. He supported this request, in part, on the ground that appellant had served 120 days of confinement as part of the sentence at the original trial, which sentence had been set aside. Noting that the sentence at the rehearing did not include confinement, defense counsel added:

Unfortunately, AME2 Rosendahl cannot go back in time. The Government cannot undo AME2 Rosendahl’s 120 days of unjust confinement. The only way the Government can compensate AME2 Rosendahl for its mistake is to disapprove his bad-conduct discharge..... AME2 Rosendahl’s 120 days of confinement was adjudged at an unfair hearing. The only way to correct this injustice is to disapprove AME2 Rosendahl’s bad-conduct discharge.

■ The convening authority approved the sentence as adjudged. Pursuant to the pretrial agreement, the convening authority suspended any reduction below the grade of E-4 for a period of 6 months. In his action, he also stated, “The accused will be credited with any portion of the punishment served from 15 February 1996 until 24 May 1996 under the sentence adjudged at the former trial of this case.”

II. DISCUSSION

A. Former jeopardy and credit for prior punishment

The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution provides that no person will “be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.” This constitutional protection against double jeopardy applies to three circumstances: (1) trial “for the same offense after acquittal”; (2) trial “for the same offense after conviction”; and (3) “multiple punishments for the same offense.” North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 717, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 23 L.Ed.2d 656 (1969).

In Pearce, the Supreme Court held that the constitutional protection against double jeopardy “is violated when punishment already extracted for an offense is not fully ‘credited’ in imposing sentence upon a new conviction for the same offense.” Id. at 718, 89 S.Ct. 2072. With respect to confinement, the Court noted that if a defendant is acquitted at a second trial, “there is no way the years he spent in prison can be returned to him. But if he is reconvicted, those years can and must be returned — by subtracting them from whatever new sentence is imposed.” Id. at 719, 89 S.Ct. 2072. This mandatory credit applies not only to prison time served, but also to any good time credited under the original sentence and to any fines paid under the original sentence. Id. at 718 n. 12 and 719 n. 13, 89 S.Ct. 2072.

The prohibition against double jeopardy for servicemembers is implemented in the *347

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
53 M.J. 344, 2000 CAAF LEXIS 908, 2000 WL 1218708, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-rosendahl-armfor-2000.