United States v. Thomas

43 M.J. 903, 1996 CCA LEXIS 112, 1996 WL 130642
Army Court of Criminal Appeals·Decided March 21, 1996·No. ARMY 9500723·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

ARQUILLA, Judge:

The appellant was convicted, in accordance with his pleas, of wrongful possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and wrongful distribution of marijuana, in violation of Article 112a, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. § 912a (1988) [hereinafter UCMJ]. The military judge sentenced him to a dishonorable discharge, confinement for two years and five months, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and reduction to Private El. The convening authority approved the sentence and, pursuant to a pretrial agreement, suspended that portion of the sentence adjudging confinement in excess of twenty months for a period of twenty months.

Before this court, the appellant, through counsel, submitted the case upon its merits. Also, pursuant to United States v. Grostefon, 12 M.J. 431 (C.M.A.1982), the appellant presented several matters attacking the effectiveness of his legal representation by his civilian defense counsel, and the accuracy of the stipulation of fact that appellant signed pursuant to his pretrial agreement. We have examined these matters and find them to lack credibility and merit.1

Although not raised by either the appellant or his appellate defense counsel, we noted during our initial review of this case that the appellant was convicted of wrongful possession with intent to distribute and wrongful distribution of the same bag of marijuana. The stipulation of fact, and the appellant’s testimony during the military judge’s inquiry into the providence of his guilty plea, clearly [902]*902indicate that the appellant’s only reason for possessing the marijuana on the day alleged was to distribute it to Special Agent (SA) Cynthea Applegate, who, unknown to the appellant at the time, was working undercover as a member of the drug suppression team of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID). The two had engaged in negotiations which ultimately resulted in the appellant procuring a $50.00 bag of marijuana and selling it to SA Applegate.

At trial, the appellant’s civilian defense counsel conceded that the two specifications alleging these offenses were not multiplicious for the purpose of findings, but he argued at length that they should be considered multiplicious for the purpose of sentencing. In denying the defense counsel’s motion, the military judge explained his ruling as follows:

[I]t doesn’t matter in my ruling the way I see the facts and the law whether or not he intended to distribute to Applegate or intended to distribute to whoever [sic] came along. The point is he had it in his possession, he had it there for the intent to distribute it to someone to include Apple-gate, and he had it there for a significant period of tíme. He brought it from the barracks. He brought it to work and he walked out of work to the parking lot and if Applegate didn’t show or other things happened, she didn’t have the money whatever, we wouldn’t have had the second offense.2

We requested briefs from appellate counsel to address the issue as to whether this ruling was correct.3 At the request of appellate defense counsel, we also heard oral argument on this issue.

We find that the two offenses were multiplicious for the purposes of findings and sentence, and answer the specified issue in the affirmative.4 We hold that, under the facts of this case, possession with intent to distribute marijuana is a lesser included offense of distribution of marijuana, and that the military judge should not have entered findings of guilty as to both offenses.5

In United States v. Teters, 37 M.J. 370 (C.M.A.1993), the United States Court of Military Appeals6 rejected the “fairly embraced test” of United States v. Baker, 14 M.J. 361 (C.M.A.1983), for determining mul[903]*903tiplicity, and adopted the rule of construction found in Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932). That rule provides as follows:

[Wjhere the same act or transaction constitutes a violation of two distinct statutory provisions, the test to be applied to determine whether there are two offenses or only one, is whether each provision requires proof of an additional fact which the other does not.

284 U.S. at 304, 52 S.Ct. at 182 (citations omitted).

In United States v. Brown, 19 M.J. 63 (C.M.A.1984), a pre-Teters case, the Court of Military Appeals, after considering the language of Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, 1969 (Rev. ed.), para. 213g [hereinafter MCM, 1969], held with regard to Article 134, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C.A. § 934, that wrongful possession of marijuana with intent to distribute is a lesser included offense of “distribution of the same quantity of substance at the same time and place.” 19 M.J. at 64.

Although the court’s decision in Brown was based on violations of Article 134, UCMJ, rather than Article 112a, as in this case, and on analysis of the 1969 Manual language, rather than the present-day version, we find that this case is still sound precedent. The 1969 Manual description of these two offenses under Article 134 of the Code does not differ from the current Manual description of these offenses under Article 112a of the Code. Then, as now, the term “distribute” is defined to mean “to deliver to the possession of another.” Compare paragraph 213g(3), MCM, 1969, with paragraph 37c(3), MCM (1995 edition). One cannot deliver possession of an item to another without exercising at least constructive control over it. In other words, one must first possess an item in order to distribute it. United States v. Zubko, 18 M.J. 378 (C.M.A.1984). However, the element of “intent to distribute,” required to be proved in order to establish the lesser offense, but not the greater offense, is left undefined in the identically-worded provisions of both Manuals. Compare paragraph 213g(6), MCM, 1969, with paragraph 37c(6), MCM (1995 edition).

Therefore, the court’s analysis in Brown still applies:

[T]he individual must have a general mens rea — an intent to do the actus reus for which he is being held accountable. In the case of distribution, this general mens rea is the intent to perform the act of distribution. Accordingly, it is apparent that both offenses include the element of intent to distribute the controlled substance.

Brown, 19 M.J. at 64 (citations omitted). The holding in Teters does not detract from the validity of this analysis, and United States v. Foster, 40 M.J. 140 (C.M.A.1994), serves to reinforce it. As the court stated in Foster, “dismissal or resurrection of charges based upon ‘lesser-included’ claims can only be resolved by lining up elements realistically and determining whether each element of the supposed ‘lesser' offense is rationally derivative of one or more elements of the other offense — and vice versa....” 40 M.J. at 146 (emphasis in original).

This case is also distinguishable from the recent case of United States v. Albrecht, 43 M.J.

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United States v. Thomas, 43 M.J. 903, 1996 CCA LEXIS 112, 1996 WL 130642 (acca 1996).

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