United States v. Savoy

65 M.J. 854, 2007 CCA LEXIS 544, 2007 WL 4259191
CourtUnited States Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals
DecidedNovember 16, 2007
DocketACM 36670
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 65 M.J. 854 (United States v. Savoy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Air Force Court of Criminal 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. Savoy, 65 M.J. 854, 2007 CCA LEXIS 544, 2007 WL 4259191 (afcca 2007).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

SCHOLZ, Senior Judge:

In accordance with her pleas, the appellant was found guilty of failure to go, dereliction of duty for drinking alcohol while under the age of 21, use of marijuana on divers occasions, and use of cocaine, in violation of Articles 86, 92, and 112a, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. §§ 886, 892, 912a. Officer members, sitting as a general court-martial, sentenced the appellant to a bad-conduct discharge, confinement for 6 months, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and reduction to E-l. The convening authority approved the findings and sentence as adjudged. Pursuant to the military judge’s ruling on a defense motion, the appellant was given 6 days of administrative credit against her adjudged confinement for illegal pretrial confinement under Rule for Courts-Martial (R.C.M.) 305(k). She was also credited with the 49 days she spent in pretrial confinement.

The appellant raises three allegations of error before this Court: (1) The pretrial confinement review officer (PCRO) abused his discretion in determining the appellant’s pretrial confinement should be continued; (2) The appellant is entitled to additional credit under Article 13, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 813, because her unit removed her from an inpatient mental health facility and put her into pretrial confinement to save unit funds and then failed to visit her weekly, as required by the Navy Confinement Instruction; and (3) The military judge committed plain error by failing to instruct members that a fine was an authorized punishment for the appellant’s offenses. We find that the assignments of error have no merit and affirm both the findings and the sentence.

Background

The appellant was a 20-year-old Electronic Warfare Systems apprentice who had already received punishment under Article 15, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 815, and a letter of reprimand for underage drinking before admitting to marijuana and cocaine use. After her commander preferred the first charge and specifications for wrongful drug use and she received the results of her sanity board, the appellant’s misconduct increased precipitously and her behavior became self-destructive.1 Within a month’s timeframe, the appellant failed to go four times, drank underage, was put on probation by a state court for a criminal mischief conviction, attempted either suicide or to harm herself three times resulting in hospitalizations, and violated a no-contact order. Her new commander, Major H, ordered her into pretrial confinement and while she was in pretrial confinement preferred [856]*856additional charges of failure to go and dereliction of duty for underage drinking.

The appellant pled guilty to all charges and specifications. After the findings were announced, the appellant’s counsel submitted a motion for appropriate relief asking the military judge to grant two-for-one credit pursuant to R.C.M. 305(k) for illegal pretrial confinement for violations of R.C.M. 305.2 The military judge considered the evidence, testimony presented by the parties, and the arguments of counsel. After the members announced their sentence and were dismissed, the military judge announced his findings and ruling on the motion. We excerpt his pertinent, written findings of facts and conclusions of law below:

11. On 9 Sep 05, the PCRO approved continuation of the accused’s pretrial confinement. He found continued pretrial confinement was necessary because the accused had committed the five court-martial offenses alleged by Maj [H]3 and it was foreseeable the accused would continue to engage in serious criminal misconduct (e.g., continued use of illicit drugs and underage drinking) as well as not appear at trial or pretrial hearing. He also found lesser forms of restraint weren’t sufficient because the accused had demonstrated the propensity to violate both verbal and written orders by violating a written “no contact” order and safety curfew given to her by her commander and had failed to go to her appointed place of duty on four occasions.
13. Around 1 Sep 05, the Hurlburt Life Skills office conducted two meetings, attended by Maj [¶] and personnel from legal, OSI and Life Skills to discuss the accused. The attendees were very concerned about the accused’s safety and security and discussed her past suicide attempts and available options. Pretrial confinement was one of the options discussed. Continued in-patient treatment was also an option, however, the accused no longer met the criteria used by civilian hospitals for in-patient treatment.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

22. The main attack on the pretrial confinement decisions made by Maj [¶] and the PCRO is they impermissibly based the need for confinement on preventing the accused from committing suicide. Defense counsel also alleges Maj [¶] (and by implication, the PCRO as well) failed to consider lesser forms of restraint. Applying an abuse of discretion standard (sic) and considering only the information that was before Maj [¶] and the PCRO when they made their decisions (U.S. v. Gaither, 41 M.J. 774 (A.F.Ct.Crim.App.1995)), the Court disagrees. While it’s likely the possibility of the accused again trying to commit suicide was a concern on the minds of both men given the accused’s erratic behavior preceding her 23 Aug 05 hospitalization, they also had other information before them when they made their decisions which evidenced an increasing disregard by the accused for reporting for duty and following orders. The accused’s recent behavior also added an element of unpredictability to her conduct that could reasonably support a conclusion she would not appear for trial. Although preventing suicide is not a permissible basis alone for pretrial confinement (U.S. v. Doane, 54 M.J. 978 (A.F.Ct.Crim.App.2001)), it is a factor a commander or magistrate can consider in determining whether pretrial confinement is appropriate (U.S. v. Wardle, 58 M.J. 156 (2003))[sic].
23. While R.C.M. 305 requires a commander and reviewing officer consider lesser forms of restraint as an alternative to pretrial confinement, there’s no requirement such measures be tried and fail be[857]*857fore confinement can be ordered (or continued). In this case, Maj [¶] actually tried such a lesser measure (issuance of a “no contact” order), which the accused violated the very same day, before ordering her into pretrial confinement. The PCRO was also aware of this when he continued the accused in pretrial confinement. Consequently, the Court finds no abuse of discretion by either Maj [¶] or the PCRO.

Therefore the military judge denied the defense motion for credit for illegal pretrial confinement in violation of R.C.M. 305(k) as to the confinement and continued confinement decisions made by the appellant’s commander and the PCRO. The military judge did, however, grant the appellant six days of administrative credit for other violations; he found Maj H was not neutral and detached and so his 72-hour commander’s memorandum 4 did not also satisfy the 48-hour probable cause determination required by R.C.M.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
65 M.J. 854, 2007 CCA LEXIS 544, 2007 WL 4259191, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-savoy-afcca-2007.