United States v. Schaper

42 M.J. 737, 1995 CCA LEXIS 90, 1995 WL 555291
CourtUnited States Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals
DecidedFebruary 24, 1995
DocketACM 31189
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 42 M.J. 737 (United States v. Schaper) 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. Schaper, 42 M.J. 737, 1995 CCA LEXIS 90, 1995 WL 555291 (afcca 1995).

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT

YOUNG, Senior Judge:

A military judge convicted appellant of dishonorably failing to pay debts, pursuant to his pleas, and larceny, contrary to his pleas. Articles 134 and 121, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. §§ 934, 921 (1988). The military judge sentenced appellant to a bad-conduct discharge, confinement for 7 months, and reduction to E-3. The convening authority disapproved the conviction for dishonorably failing to pay debts, but approved the sentence as adjudged. Appellant asserts the evidence is factually and legally insufficient to support his conviction of larceny. We disagree and affirm.

I. Facts

The prosecution’s evidence consisted of a stipulation of fact and documents which were incorporated by reference therein. On 13 March 1992, appellant “freely and willingly” applied for a Citicorp Diners Club card through the Diners Club Government Card Program. The purpose of the program is to eliminate the need for cash advances and provide a means of expense accounting for Air Force members who frequently travel on official business. Although apparently based on a contract between the United States Government and Citicorp, the actual Diners Club agreement was between Citicorp and appellant. By signing the application form, he agreed to be bound by the terms and conditions of the Diners Club Government Card Program Employee Card Account Agreement accompanying the card and acknowledged that the card was to be used only for official government business. Before applying for the card, appellant certified that he had read, understood, and agreed to abide by the provisions of the Employee Card Account Agreement. That agreement states that the Diners Club card and account were “not to be used for personal purposes and may only be used in connection with official United States Government business.” Appellant also applied for a personal identification number (PIN) so he could use the card to make cash withdrawals from automated teller machines (ATM). To do so, he signed the application form, agreeing to be bound by the terms of the employee agreement. That agreement states, in part:

The Government ATM Program is provided by Diners Club under the authority of my Agency. The Program may not be used for personal purposes and may only be used in connection with official United States Government business. ATM cash withdrawals must be authorized by a travel authorization and are subject to applicable regulations of my Agency with respect to travel advances.
____ ATM cash withdrawals must be authorized by my travel authorization, and I may not withdraw any amount which is in excess of any limitation upon withdrawals contained in such travel authorization.
I understand that I may not obtain an ATM cash withdrawal for any purpose other than for official United States Government business and that no other person is permitted to use the Card or my Account for any reason.
.... Obtaining an ATM cash withdrawal for any purpose other than for official travel is specifically prohibited.

Air Force regulations provide that Air Force members can receive cash travel advances only incident to a travel authorization for official Government travel.

On 16 occasions between 22 December 1992 and 15 February 1993, appellant used this Diners Club card and PIN to withdraw a total of $4,110 from ATM machines for purposes other than official United States Government business—to cover bad checks he had written, to buy Christmas presents, and [739]*739to pay for liquor and shooting pool. On 4 March 1993, when confronted by his first sergeant about the use of his Diners Club card, appellant denied that he had ever used the card or had given his card or PIN to anyone else to use and admitted he had not been on government official travel. Appellant made similar representations to Diners Club in an affidavit he prepared with the assistance of the first sergeant. Appellant was not charged for these false statements. Appellant was aware that charges made on his Diners Club were his own personal financial responsibility, not those of the government.

II. Standards of Review

Under Article 66(c), UCMJ, 10 U.S.C.A. § 866(c), this Court has a duty to determine both the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence. The test for legal sufficiency is whether, considering the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, a reasonable fact-finder could have found all the essential elements beyond a reasonable doubt. The test for factual sufficiency is whether, after weighing the evidence in the record of trial and making allowances for not having personally observed the witnesses, we are personally convinced of appellant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Turner, 25 M.J. 324 (C.M.A.1987).

III. Discussion

To prove larceny, the prosecution must show that the accused wrongfully took, obtained, or withheld the property of another with the intent permanently to appropriate it to his own use and benefit or to deprive the owner of its use or benefit. Article 121, UCMJ; Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, 198k (MCM), Part IV, ¶ 46; see United States v. Antonelli, 35 M.J. 122, 127 (C.M.A.1992). The prosecution proceeded on a theory of larceny by false pretenses (wrongfully obtaining) and the military judge adopted findings of fact and conclusions of law based on that theory.

A false pretense is a false representation of past or existing fact. In addition to other kinds of facts, the fact falsely represented by a person may be that person’s or another’s power, authority, or intention____ Although the pretense need not be the sole cause inducing the owner to part with the property, it must be an effective and intentional cause of the obtaining.

MCM, Part IV, ¶ 46c(l)(e). “[T]he false pretense may be made by means of any act, word, symbol, or token. The pretense must be in fact false when made and when the property is obtained, and it must be knowingly false in the sense that it is made without a belief in its truth.” Id. The false representation may be implied from unwritten and unspoken conduct. Wayne R. La-Fave & Austin W. Scott Jr., Criminal Law 656 (1972); see 3 Charles E. Toreia, Wharton’s Criminal Law § 426 (14th ed.1980). A false pretense may also occur through the failure to correct a representation previously made which is no longer true. The individual’s “silence at the moment, with full knowledge of what is happening, is the equivalent of a repetition of the statement at the very moment of acquisition.” Rollin M. Perkins, Perkins on Evidence 311 (2d ed.1969); see United States v. Dean, 33 M.J. 505, 510 (A.F.C.M.R.1991). It is of no consequence that the representations are made to a machine as opposed to a human representative of the person relinquishing title to the property. See United States v. Flowerday, 28 M.J. 705 (A.F.C.M.R.1989) (by directly dialing long distance calls on another’s telephone, accused “was implicitly representing to the telephone company that he was the owner or a duly authorized user of that instrument and, further, that he or the owner intended to pay for the service”).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Sanchez
54 M.J. 874 (Army Court of Criminal Appeals, 2001)
United States v. Meng
43 M.J. 801 (Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals, 1995)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
42 M.J. 737, 1995 CCA LEXIS 90, 1995 WL 555291, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-schaper-afcca-1995.