United States v. Teague

3 C.M.A. 317, 3 USCMA 317, 12 C.M.R. 73, 1953 CMA LEXIS 669, 1953 WL 2184
CourtUnited States Court of Military Appeals
DecidedSeptember 11, 1953
DocketNo. 1719
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 3 C.M.A. 317 (United States v. Teague) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Military 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. Teague, 3 C.M.A. 317, 3 USCMA 317, 12 C.M.R. 73, 1953 CMA LEXIS 669, 1953 WL 2184 (cma 1953).

Opinion

Opinion of the Court

George W. Latimer, Judge:

The accused was tried by a general court-martial on June 9 and 10, 1952, on two specifications of absence without leave under Charge I, and two specifications of breaking arrest under Charge II, violations of Articles 86 and 95, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 50 USC §§ 680 and 689, respectively. He was found guilty on all specifications and sentenced to a dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of $55 a month and confinement for one year. The convening authority reduced the confinement and forfeitures to eleven months, but otherwise approved. A board of review in the office of The Judge Advocate General of the Navy was of the opinion the evidence was insufficient to support the findings of guilty on the specifications of breaking arrest, and set them aside, but affirmed the findings of guilty of absence without leave. The board reduced the forfeitures and confinement to six months, and the dishonorable discharge to a bad-conduct discharge. The Judge Advocate General of the Navy certified the record to this Court to determine two issues which will be mentioned after the facts are related.

I

The evidence of the prosecution established that on December 10, 1951, the accused was placed under arrest to await execution of a bad-conduct discharge. Under this arrest he was placed in a prisoner-at-large status and restricted to a specifically defined area of the U. S. Naval Training Center at Great Lakes, Illinois. He was required, during working hours, to perform such duties as were assigned to him by his platoon commander and to attend prisoner-at-large muster at designated times. He was forbidden to enter the enlisted men’s club or to have alcoholic beverages of any kind in his possession. In addition, he was notified that any unauthorized departure from the limits of his arrest would result in disciplinary action for breaking arrest. The related information was communicated to the accused by the delivery to him of a mimeographed form, which set forth the terms of his arrest. The form also contained an acknowledgment signed by the accused which showed that he had read and understood the provisions of his arrest. Thereafter, on December 20, 1951, he absented himself from the Naval Training Center and he did not return from such unauthorized absence until January 9, 1952.

On the day of return, accused was again placed under arrest in a prisoner-at-large status with terms identical to those of his previous arrest with the exception that this time the restraint was for the purpose of having accused available when notification of action of higher authority was received. Accused by his signature again acknowledged that he had read and understood the limitations on his freedom. On January 17, 1952, he again absented himself without authorization. It was not until March 18, 1952, that he was apprehended by United States Army military police and delivered to Naval authorities at Joplin, Missouri.

In his own defense, accused introduced documentary evidence showing that on September 10, 1951, he had been convicted by a general court-mar[320]*320tial and sentenced to three months’ confinement, forfeiture of $40.00 per month for three months, and a bad-conduct discharge. He elected to testify as to the first specification of Charge II which involved the breaking of arrest on December 20, 1951, and stated that his confinement for the earlier conviction commenced on September 10, 1951; that he was released on December 10, 1951; that on the latter date he was notified there were no charges pending against him; that on the morning of his release he was taken to another building where he was informed that he had been placed in a prisoner-at-large status; and that he executed the notices of arrest dated December 10, 1951, and January 9, 1952.

At the conclusion of the evidence, defense counsel moved for a finding of not guilty on the first specification under Charge II, contending the accused was placed under arrest illegally since, in the absence of any charges pending against him, there was no probable cause for his arrest. He also moved for a finding of not guilty of both specifications under the same charge, contending that although there was a showing that accused was placed under arrest on December 10, 1951, and January 9, 1952, there was no evidence that he remained in that status until the dates of his respective absences. He concedes the record contains no evidence showing the prisoner-at-large status had terminated. The motions for findings of not guilty were overruled.

After the law officer denied the motions, defense counsel introduced into evidence a copy of the decision of the board of review, dated November 28, 1951, in which the findings of guilt were affirmed, but, because of procedural errors, the bad-conduct discharge adjudged against the accused on September 10, 1951, was held to be incorrect in law. Trial counsel introduced in rebuttal evidence showing that a copy of the board of review decision was not received by the convening authority at Great Lakes, Illinois, until after January 23, 1952. The accused thereupon renewed his motion for a finding of not guilty of one specification but it was overruled and the court-martial returned the findings herein-before mentioned.

II

The board of review in the office of The Judge Advocate General of the Navy held that the law officer erred in denying the motions for findings of not guilty holding that the evidence was insufficient to support them since it failed to show that accused’s status continued to be that of a prisoner-at-large up to and including the respective times of his departures on unauthorized leave. Although that holding rendered the disposition of the accused’s other contention unnecessary, the board of review nevertheless passed upon the legality of the first arrest because it considered the point of sufficient importance to be discussed. It held that the arrest of the accused on December 10, 1951, was illegal.

The Judge Advocate General of the Navy asks us to answer the following questions:

“(a) Was there sufficient evidence, as a matter of law, to support the conviction on the second specification of Charge II and on Charge II?
“(b) Was the evidence sufficient, as a matter of law to have required the law officer to instruct the court on breaking restriction as a lesser included offense of the breaking arrest alleged in the first specification of Charge II?”

III

Because the first certified question involves the issue upon which the board of review reversed Charge II, we shall broaden our answer to the question as it affects both specifications. The board of review concluded that although the evidence established that on December 10, 1951, and January 9, 1952, the accused was placed in arrest, the ■ prosecution had failed to prove that he was in that status at the times he left without authorization— i. e., December 20 and January 17, respectively, and, therefore, the proof would not support the findings. Appellate defense counsel, supporting that position, contends that there is no show[321]*321ing whatever that the accused was in a status of arrest on the dates he left on his unauthorized absences. We disagree with this contention and base our holding upon two grounds, first, there is a presumption in favor of a continuation of the status; and, second, we find in the record evidence to support a finding that accused was under arrest at the time he departed.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
3 C.M.A. 317, 3 USCMA 317, 12 C.M.R. 73, 1953 CMA LEXIS 669, 1953 WL 2184, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-teague-cma-1953.