United States v. Swift

76 M.J. 210, 2017 CAAF LEXIS 299, 2017 WL 1507722
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Armed Forces
DecidedApril 26, 2017
Docket16-0407/AR
StatusPublished
Cited by37 cases

This text of 76 M.J. 210 (United States v. Swift) 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. Swift, 76 M.J. 210, 2017 CAAF LEXIS 299, 2017 WL 1507722 (Ark. 2017).

Opinion

Judge RYAN

delivered the opinion of the Court.

A panel of officers and enlisted members sitting as a general court-martial convicted Appellant, contrary to his pleas, of two speei-fications of indecent acts with a child in violation of Article 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), 10 U.S.C. § 934 (2000). The panel sentenced Appellant to a dishonorable discharge, fourteen years of confinement, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and reduction to the grade of E-l. The convening authority approved the sentence as adjudged.

On appeal .under Article 66, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 866 (2012), the United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals (ACCA), in consideration of this Court’s decision in United States v. Humphries, 71 M.J. 209 (C.A.A.F. 2012), dismissed the Charge and its specifications without prejudice for failure to allege the terminal element of Article 134, UCMJ, noting that there was no “bar to a new trial on the underlying misconduct.’.’ United States v. Swift, No. ARMY 20100196, 2012 CCA LEXIS 459, at *5, 2012 WL. 6021474, at *2 (A. Ct. Crim. App. Nov. 29, 2012) (unpublished). The Judge, Advocate General of the Army certified the disposition of that issue pursuant to Article 67(a)(2), UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 867(a)(2) (2012), 72 M.J. 37 (C.A.A.F. 2013). This Court summarily affirmed the decision of the ACCA. 72 M.J. 466 (C.A.A.F. 2013).

A military judge alone, sitting as a general court-martial, subsequently convicted Appellant, contrary to his pleas, of two specifications of indecent acts with a child in violation of Article 134, UCMJ, based on the same underlying misconduct. 1 Appellant was sentenced to a dishonorable discharge, eleven years of confinement, and a reduction to the grade of E-l. The convening authority approved the sentence as adjudged. The ACCA affirmed the findings of guilty and sentence. United States v. Swift, No. ARMY 20100196, 2016 CCA LEXIS 26, at *10, 2016 WL 270822, at *4 (A. Ct. Crim. App. Jan. 21, 2016) (unpublished).

We granted Appellant’s petition to review the following issues:

I. Whether the Army Court denied Appellant his substantial right to an Article *212 66(e) review by affirming the findings and sentence on uncharged misconduct presented at trial rather than the charged offenses.
II. Whether the military judge erred by admitting Appellant’s pretrial statement where there was no independent evidence to corroborate the essential facts admitted.
III. Whether the evidence of the two convictions of indecent acts with a child is legally sufficient.

While the facts underlying our decision are complicated, the law is quite straightforward. First, where, as here, a CCA’s Article 66(c), UCMJ, factual and legal sufficiency review appears to affirm the findings of guilty based solely upon uncharged misconduct, it is legally deficient, and a proper Article 66(c), UCMJ, review must be conducted upon remand from this Court. United States v. McAllister, 55 M.J. 270, 277 (C.A.A.F. 2001). Second, where, as here, an accused states he has “no objection” to the admission of a confession at trial, he has waived his right to complain on appeal that the confession lacked sufficient corroboration to be admitted. See Military Rule of Evidence (M.R.E.) 304(c), (f)(1), Supplement to the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2012 ed.) (as amended by Exec. Order No. 13,643, 78 Fed. Reg. 29,559, 29,564 (May 15, 2013)); see also United States v. Miller, 31 M.J. 247, 252 (C.M.A. 1990). Finally, we leave it to the ACCA in the first instance to assess the status and relevance of the uncharged misconduct when determining whether the evidence of the charged offenses was legally and factually sufficient.

The decision of the ACCA is vacated, and the case is remanded to the ACCA for further action consistent with this opinion.

I. FACTS

A. The Charged Conduct

In a sworn statement to Criminal Investigation Command (CID), Appellant confessed to molesting his daughter KS on two occasions. First, Appellant admitted that he touched KS in Hawaii in November or December of 2003 after mistaking her for his wife in bed (hereinafter Hawaii Bedside Incident). According to his confession, Appellant entered his bedroom in the dark and climbed into bed with his wife. Unaware that KS was also in bed sleeping with his wife, he reached down the undergarments of KS, thinking it was his wife, and fondled KS’s vagina. His wife then told him that KS was in bed with them, and upon realizing he was touching KS, he immediately removed his hand.

Second, Appellant admitted that he touched KS in Texas in June of 2007 while asleep and dreaming of making love to an “old flame” (hereinafter Texas “Old Flame” Incident). In his sworn statement, Appellant stated that he was lying in bed with KS reading her a book. He recounts blacking out and dreaming that he was laying his head on a woman’s chest and fondling her vagina. He further recounts being woken up from his dream by his wife while he was asleep on the couch, and he could not remember how he moved from the bed to the couch. After waking him up, his wife asked him if he had touched KS.

The Government charged these acts as violations of Article 134, UCMJ. Specification One alleged that Appellant:

[D]id, at or near Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, between on or about 1 November 2003 and on or about 31 December 2003, commit an indecent act upon the body of Miss KS, a female under 16 years of age, not the wife of the accused, by touching her vulva with his hand....

Specification Two alleged that Appellant:

[D]id at or near Fort Bliss, Texas, between on or about 1 May 2007 and on or about 5 September 2007, commit an indecent act upon the body of Miss KS, a female under 16 years of age, not the wife of the accused, by lying his head upon her chest and touching her vulva with his hand....

B. M.R.E. 404(b) and 414 Evidence

The Government filed a motion in limine to admit evidence of uncharged misconduct pursuant to M.R.E. 404(b) and M.R.E. 414 to “demonstrate an opportunity, intent, and absence of mistake or accident,” and “because other similar incidents of [child] molestation *213 would make it more probable that the Accused committed the charged acts.” The acts of child molestation depicted in the specifications, supra, are referenced in the motion and are specifically tied to Appellant’s sworn statement to CID:

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Bluebook (online)
76 M.J. 210, 2017 CAAF LEXIS 299, 2017 WL 1507722, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-swift-armfor-2017.