United States v. Schneider

34 M.J. 639, 1992 CMR LEXIS 100, 1992 WL 16031
CourtU.S. Army Court of Military Review
DecidedJanuary 31, 1992
DocketACMR 9003419
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 34 M.J. 639 (United States v. Schneider) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U.S. Army 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. Schneider, 34 M.J. 639, 1992 CMR LEXIS 100, 1992 WL 16031 (usarmymilrev 1992).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

De GIULIO, Senior Judge:

Appellant was tried by general court-martial for attempted murder of his wife and two specifications of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman by committing perjury and by having sexual intercourse with and otherwise engaging in a sexual or other improper affair with a woman not his wife in violation of Articles 80 and 133, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. §§ 880 and 933 (1982) [hereinafter UCMJ]. Contrary to his pleas, a court consisting of officer members found him guilty and sentenced him to dismissal, confinement for twenty-three years, and total forfeitures. The convening authority approved the sentence except that he conditionally suspended the forfeiture in excess of $400.00 pay per month until execution of the dismissal.1

Appellant asserts several errors which we find to be without merit. We affirm the findings of guilty and the sentence.

This is a case where the offenses were motivated by love and money. In 1987, [641]*641appellant was assigned to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. He moved to the area with his wife and two children. While working at the laboratory, he met Paula, with whom he worked for a time on a daily basis. In August 1987, Paula’s friends asked Paula, the appellant, and appellant’s family to accompany them on a boat trip. Appellant indicated that his wife and children would not go because his wife feared for the safety of the children but, if permitted, he would go. During the boat trip which lasted overnight, appellant and Paula shared adjoining quarters at the opposite end of the boat from where the other passengers were quartered. In April of 1989, according to Paula, her relationship with appellant became sexual and intimate.2

In July 1989, appellant told his wife that he had to go on a mission for the laboratory; but, due to its classified nature, he could not tell her of its location, other details, or point of contact for emergencies. In fact, appellant and Paula traveled to Hawaii where they stayed together in the King Kamehameha Hotel, Kailua, Hawaii.

In 1989, appellant was assigned to attend the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. At Fort Leavenworth, he moved his family into government quarters. In August 1989, he met with an insurance agent. Although the agent recommended appellant increase insurance coverage on himself, appellant declined to do so but stated he wanted an additional $150,000 coverage on his wife, Debbie. This policy, with appellant as the beneficiary, was effective 1 October 1989.

In the fall of 1989, appellant purchased a home in Tracey, California. He convinced Debbie that her name should not be on the title. He used the proceeds from the sale of the family home near his prior assignment for the purchase of this house. He told her that he had to go to California to take care of details of this purchase over Labor Day weekend of 1989. He spent that weekend with Paula. Paula told a friend that it was the best weekend of her life.

Numerous telephone calls were made between appellant at Fort Leavenworth and Paula in California.

After returning home from a party on the evening of 20 October 1989, Debbie went to bed and fell asleep. She awoke with intense pain in her head and was pulled up to a sitting position on the bed. She saw appellant standing next to the bed. The toilet tank lid from the bathroom was on the floor near his feet. The toilet tank lid was broken. She felt a baseball-sized lump on her head. The lump was “oozing.” She brushed small pieces of porcelain from her hair. She described appellant, who was normally calm and cool in time of crisis, as visibly shaken. He stated repeatedly, “you must have hit your head.” Appellant assisted her to the bathroom where she sat on the toilet. When she began shaking, he helped her to the bathroom floor and covered her with a quilt. He wanted to take her for medical attention but she wanted only to go back to bed. He assisted her to the bed. The next morning, he took her to the medical facility. When asked what had happened to her head, appellant stated to medical personnel that Debbie was sleepwalking, picked up the toilet tank lid, tripped, and hit her head. The statement that she was injured while sleepwalking was recorded on medical documents. Evidence of record indicates appellant’s wife had never walked in her sleep. When she returned home, Debbie found small pieces of the toilet tank lid on her pillow. This incident was the subject of the specification alleging attempted murder.

On 28 October 1989, appellant took his wife for a “romantic” overnight stay in a local downtown hotel. The room was on the top floor. After dinner he tried to get her to drink more champagne than she normally consumed. After they went to [642]*642their room, appellant tried to get her out on the balcony. She refused because it was too cold and because she was afraid of heights.

On 4 November 1989, appellant and his wife were to attend the Armor Ball. Without her knowledge, appellant made arrangements for another “romantic” night at Embassy Suites Hotel. She discovered his plans when the babysitter told him she could not stay overnight. Appellant decided to go to the hotel after the ball anyway but to return home early. At the ball Debbie enjoyed the dancing and only left early to go to the hotel at appellant’s insistence. Although appellant had asked for an eighth floor room when making reservations, he was given a room on the seventh floor.

Two sixteen-year-old girls, Chantel and Brandi, who were on the eighth floor, observed appellant and his wife when they entered the hotel. They were attracted to the couple because of their “extravagant attire.” They watched appellant and his wife ride the glass elevator to the eighth floor and watched them walk side by side down the hallway. Brandi looked away. Chantel saw appellant make vigorous hand movements in front of his wife as she faced him with her back to the rail. She observed appellant put his left arm around Debbie where the rail met her back, put his right hand on her chest, and flip her over the rail. Chantel watched Debbie plunge 70-80 feet and hit a table on the atrium floor.3 Chantel watched appellant look over the railing, walk toward the elevator, walk back to the railing and call for someone to call an ambulance. He then walked back to the elevator and proceeded down. Testimony indicates that appellant’s conduct when he reached the atrium floor can be described as cool and collected. Debbie’s pelvis was fractured in thirteen places. Both left and right femurs were broken in several places, with one bone penetrating her abdominal cavity, damaging her colon. She also had a fractured ankle and a fractured rib. Her colon injury required a temporary colostomy. While his wife was being wheeled into the operating room, he asked the doctor to give her a “tummy tuck.” Debbie’s roommate at the hospital and the roommate’s mother described appellant’s attitude toward his wife while she was hospitalized as cool and distant. He was also described as a “jerk” in his attitude toward his wife.

On 2 December 1989, Debbie returned home from the hospital confined to a wheelchair. On 4 December, appellant told her that he didn’t love her anymore and was getting a divorce.

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Related

Schneider v. Tillery
998 F. Supp. 1210 (D. Kansas, 1998)
Schneider v. United States
38 Fed. Cl. 383 (Federal Claims, 1997)
United States v. Schneider
38 M.J. 387 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
34 M.J. 639, 1992 CMR LEXIS 100, 1992 WL 16031, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-schneider-usarmymilrev-1992.