United States v. Thomas

38 M.J. 614, 1993 CMR LEXIS 582, 1993 WL 464375
CourtU S Air Force Court of Military Review
DecidedNovember 8, 1993
DocketNo. ACM 30068
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 38 M.J. 614 (United States v. Thomas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U S Air Force 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. Thomas, 38 M.J. 614, 1993 CMR LEXIS 582, 1993 WL 464375 (usafctmilrev 1993).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

JOHNSON, Senior Judge:

Pursuant to his pleas of guilty, Sergeant Thomas was convicted of absence without authority from 23 to 26 December 1991 and from 16 to 17 January 1992.1 Contrary to his pleas, he was also convicted of using cocaine, violating a lawful regulation by possessing drug paraphernalia, and dishonorably failing to pay two just debts.2 He was sentenced to a bad-conduct discharge, confinement for 27 months, and reduction to E-l. He raises two issues before us. We find that he was not denied the effective assistance of counsel, but we set aside his conviction of dishonorably failing to pay two just debts because of factual insufficiency of the evidence. Accordingly, we reassess the sentence.

I. FACTS '

Sergeant Thomas was an aircraft maintenance technician in the Air Force Reserve, assigned to a unit at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey. He was called to active duty in August 1991 and ordered to report for a 90-day tour of duty at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, near Washington, D.C.

On 24 October 1991, Renatta King, a civilian, reported to military authorities at Andrews that she had used crack cocaine the night before in Washington, D.C., and in a billeting room at Andrews, with an Air Force member named “Larry Thomas.” She gave a written statement to agents of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI), showed them where the room was located, described Larry Thomas’ car, and described a brown paper bag containing five small plastic baggies in which the cocaine had been packaged. She identified Sergeant Thomas in a lineup at his Article 32 investigation and at trial, where she testified under a grant of immunity.

The paper bag, baggies, and some straws that had been used as pipe cleaners were found in a trash can outside the billeting [618]*618building. OSI agents determined the billeting room was assigned to Sergeant Thomas, and that his truck matched Ms. King’s description. She testified at trial she used cocaine with Sergeant Thomas in Washington and at Andrews over a 5- to 8-hour period on 24 October 1991. A urine sample was obtained from Sergeant Thomas by search authorization. The urinalysis results indicated the presence of cocaine metabolites in Sergeant Thomas’ urine at a level of 153,500 nanograms per milliliter, clearly higher than the DoD standard for reporting positive urinalysis results, 150 nanograms per milliliter.

Sergeant Thomas occupied a billeting room at Andrews from 28 August 1991 through 5 November 1991. He left without paying his bill of $552.00. He also occupied a billeting room at McGuire from 25 April 1991 through 31 July 1991, and during November and December 1991, but he never paid bills totaling $1,083.98. He paid nothing on either debt until they were involuntarily' collected from his military Pay.

The defense attacked Ms. King’s credibility, challenged the reliability of the urinalysis, and argued that Sergeant Thomas’ failure to pay his billeting bills was the result of confusion and misunderstanding and was not dishonorable. Sergeant Thomas testified only as to the charge of dishonorable failure to pay the two billeting debts.

II. ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL

Sergeant Thomas was represented at trial by two detailed military defense counsel. One was Captain B, the area defense counsel at McGuire. The other was Captain G, a circuit defense counsel stationed at Andrews. Sergeant Thomas raises before us eight separate complaints about their performance, which he argues deprived him of his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel. We disagree.

It is well established that an accused has a constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), reh’g denied, 467 U.S. 1267, 104 S.Ct. 3562, 82 L.Ed.2d 864 (1984); United States v. Scott, 24 M.J. 186 (C.M.A.1987). Before any relief is warranted on appellate review because of ineffective representation, an appellant must show his counsel’s performance was deficient and that the deficient performance prejudiced the outcome of the case. Appellate courts give heavy deference to trial defense counsel’s judgments, and “presume counsel’s conduct falls within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance.” United States v. Morgan, 37 M.J. 407, 409 (C.M.A.1993). Tactical decisions will not be second-guessed. United States v. Sanders, 37 M.J. 116, 118 (C.M.A.1993).

The Court of Military Appeals has articulated a three-part analysis to resolve claims of ineffective assistance of counsel:

1. Are the allegations made by appellant true; and, if they are, is there a reasonable explanation for counsel’s actions in the defense of the case?

2. If they are true, did the level of advocacy fall measurably below the performance ordinarily expected of fallible lawyers?

3. If ineffective assistance of counsel is found to exist, is there a reasonable probability that, absent the errors, the factfinder would have had a reasonable doubt respecting guilt?

United States v. Tharpe, 38 M.J. 8 (C.M.A.1993), citing United States v. Polk, 32 M.J. 150 (C.M.A.1991).

A.

Sergeant Thomas first complains that his trial team failed to assure that a single attorney had overall responsibility for orchestrating the defense. We note first that if such a situation exists it may lead to deficient performance by defense counsel, but it is not itself a deficient action or failure to act that necessarily prejudices the outcome of the case. There is no indication in the record of this case that there was the kind of severe disorganization of the defense effort that would produce a “fatal breakdown in the adversarial process that our system counts on to produce [619]*619just results.” United States v. Mansfield, 24 M.J. 611, 618 (A.F.C.M.R.1987). Furthermore, Sergeant Thomas’ complaint is not supported by the record before us. The affidavits of Captain B and Captain G establish that both counsel clearly understood that the leader of the defense effort was Captain G, the more experienced trial advocate serving as a circuit defense counsel. They also establish that there was a clearly defined division of responsibility, and that counsel consulted regularly. We find no deficiency here.

B.

Sergeant Thomas next complains his defense counsel failed to reasonably investigate a potential insanity defense. He says his counsel were aware he used a great deal of crack cocaine in a very short period of time, and he contends that this substance abuse should have raised the possibility that he suffered from a personality disorder, which could have formed the basis for a defense of lack of mental responsibility or might have established that he lacked the requisite mental capacity to stand trial. It also appears defense counsel knew Sergeant Thomas had previously used drugs. In his affidavit before us Sergeant Thomas says he was treated in a drug rehabilitation program and had a pri- or arrest for drug use. A statement written on the eve of trial and signed by Sergeant Thomas and both defense counsel says he was fired by the New York Transit Police in January 1988 for use of cocaine.

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52 M.J. 825 (Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals, 2000)

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Bluebook (online)
38 M.J. 614, 1993 CMR LEXIS 582, 1993 WL 464375, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-thomas-usafctmilrev-1993.