United States v. Tanksley

50 M.J. 609, 1999 CCA LEXIS 54, 1999 WL 179051
CourtNavy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals
DecidedMarch 31, 1999
DocketNMCM 96 01402
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 50 M.J. 609 (United States v. Tanksley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Navy-Marine Corps 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. Tanksley, 50 M.J. 609, 1999 CCA LEXIS 54, 1999 WL 179051 (N.M. 1999).

Opinion

SEFTON, Chief Judge:

Appellant was tried on various dates between October 1994 and March 1995 by a general court-martial composed of officer members. Contrary to his pleas, he was convicted of violating a general regulation, five specifications of making false official statements, taking indecent liberties with a female under the age of 16, communicating a threat, and false swearing, in violation of Articles 91, 107, and 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. §§ 891, 907, and 934 (1994). The members imposed a sentence which included confinement for 38 months, forfeiture of $3,500 pay per month for 30 months, and dismissal from the Naval service. The convening authority approved the sentence as adjudged, but as a grant of clemency, suspended the adjudged forfeitures for a period of 12 months on the condition that they be provided by allotment to appellant’s wife.

We have examined the record of trial, the errors assigned by appellant,1 and the Government’s response, along with the excellent [612]*612oral arguments presented by appellate counsel. After careful consideration, we conclude the findings and sentence to be correct in law and fact and find no error materially prejudicial to the substantial rights of the appellant was committed. Arts. 59(a) and 66(c), UCMJ. We discuss some, but not all, of appellant’s assignments of error. While we have carefully considered each of the assigned errors, we provide amplifying comments only as delineated below.

Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Claims

We start with the presumption that counsel was competent. United States v. [613]*613Scott, 24 M.J. 186, 188 (C.M.A.1987). Nothing in the record before us disturbs that presumption. Appellant was ably represented at trial by individual civilian counsel, individual military counsel, and detailed defense counsel who combined to thoroughly litigate a staggering array of timely pretrial motions, and conducted a thorough defense of appellant at all stages of his trial. Following his conviction, appellant discharged his individual civilian counsel, and retained a second individual civilian counsel, who pursued his cause through post-trial sessions that form the basis for some of the issues before us today. In reaching our conclusions on this matter, we must “measure[ ] ... the combined efforts of the defense team as a whole” as we assess appellant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claims. United States v. Boone, 42 M.J. 308, 313 (1995)(citing United States v. Walker, 21 C.M.A. 376, 380, 45 C.M.R. 150, 154, 1972 WL 14145 (1972)).

Appellant’s claims fall into two broad categories: failure to present an effective sentencing strategy, including evidence on the financial consequences of dismissal as a punishment, and failure to present the testimony of numerous flag officers on the issue of appellant’s character for truthfulness on the merits and as character witnesses during sentencing.

As to the first issue, appellant seeks to revise history. He opted during the sentencing portion of the trial to captain his own ship of destiny. He rejected the suggestions of his defense team on sentencing. He composed his own lengthy, detailed unsworn statement, which he then read to the members. Affidavit of Michael Fasanaro, Esq. of 7 Jan 1998; Record at 1258-83. That unsworn statement, which was the lodestar of the sentencing case, occupies some 25 single-spaced pages of the record before us. It highlights not only the financial repercussions of dismissal, but also those arising from the mere fact of appellant’s conviction by a general court-martial. Record at 1258-83. Appellant made it crystal clear that what the members had done to him by convicting him would ruin his future opportunities as a doctor of osteopathy. But more importantly to the issue here, he also made the point of economic diminution related to the loss of his military retirement benefits. Id. at 1280-82. He now contends that the actions of his counsel were deficient and were the underlying cause of his array of punishments which included dismissal from the Naval service despite his retirement eligibility. We strongly disagree.

We find no indication that the ramifications of dismissal as a punishment were not clearly before the members and carefully considered by them in arriving at a sentence. First, the members were all very senior officers serving in the grade of Captain. While they were presented no numerical statistics on the specific dollar-value impact of dismissal, we find it beyond cavil that each was acutely aware of the critical economic impact of the decision to dismiss appellant. Moving beyond this fundamental foundation of the experience and maturity of the members themselves, we note that trial defense counsel’s sentencing argument clearly focused on avoiding a dismissal as well. Id. at 1292-93. Thus, even though in hindsight appellant may have wished more redundancy of emphasis on this subject, we find a sufficient evidentiary predicate on the fiscal repercussions of dismissal in the record before us to avoid any imprimatur of ineffective assistance.

Appellant faced 39 years confinement, dismissal, and total forfeitures of pay and allowances. The Government argued for 25 years, a fine of $25,000, total forfeitures, and dismissal. The sentence imposed was so significantly below both the maximum possible sentence and the sentence urged by Government counsel that we are convinced that the members clearly understood and fully considered the impact of each possible punishment. Even if we were to find error in the actions of the trial defense team, we find no reasonable possibility of a different result had the monetary arguments now championed by appellant been made at trial. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052.

As to the second facet of appellant’s argument, we remain unconvinced that failures on the part of his trial defense team forfeited the presence of valuable testimony that might have materially altered the find[614]*614ings or sentence. Military practice allows the introduction of good military character evidence by the defense in order to create reasonable doubt about the allegations against an accused. United States v. Benedict, 27 M.J. 253 (C.M.A.1988); United States v. Court, 24 M.J. 11 (C.M.A.1987); United States v. Belz, 20 M.J. 33 (C.M.A. 1985). Making the tactical decision not to present such evidence, once counsel has ascertained its existence and evaluated its potential value, is absolutely legitimate. See United States v. Christy, 46 M.J. 47 (1997); United States v. Marshall, — M.J. —, No. 9700533 (N.M.Ct.Crim.App. 11 Mar. 1999). Appellant’s individual civilian trial defense counsel contacted or attempted to contact each witness suggested by appellant. Affidavit of Michael Pasanaro, Esq. of 7 Jan 1998. We find that the decision to not offer character evidence in this case was a viable tactical decision given the “Pandora’s box” of evidence the Government could have opened on cross-examination of these potential witnesses. Furthermore, the Government’s case against appellant was overwhelming.

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Related

Commonwealth v. Contos
754 N.E.2d 647 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 2001)
United States v. Tanksley
54 M.J. 169 (Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, 2000)

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50 M.J. 609, 1999 CCA LEXIS 54, 1999 WL 179051, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-tanksley-nmcca-1999.