United States v. Warren

47 M.J. 649, 1997 CCA LEXIS 588, 1997 WL 774465
CourtArmy Court of Criminal Appeals
DecidedDecember 16, 1997
DocketARMY 9501223
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 47 M.J. 649 (United States v. Warren) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Army 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. Warren, 47 M.J. 649, 1997 CCA LEXIS 588, 1997 WL 774465 (acca 1997).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

CARTER, Judge:

A general court-martial composed of officer and enlistéd members convicted appellant, contrary to his pleas, of indecent exposure and kidnapping in violation of Article 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C.' § 934 (1988) [hereinafter UCMJ]. The court-martial members found the appellant not guilty of indecent assault and indecent acts. The convening authority approved the adjudged sentence of a dishonorable discharge, confinement for one year, and reduction to Private El.

This case is before the court for review under Article 66, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C.A. § 866. In his assignment of error, appellant asserts that the military judge erred by admitting into evidence appellant’s written statement to Sergeant (SGT) Schultz, a military police investigator (MPI). We disagree.

FACTS

On 15 April 1995, appellant offered an eighteen-year-old German woman (Ms. R) a ride in his black BMW automobile from the downtown Marktplatz in Schweinfurt, Germany, to a nearby U.S. Army kaserne. Ms. R placed two bags in the back seat of appellant’s ear and then got in the front seat. She became worried when appellant drove on the autobahn in the opposite direction of the kaserne. Appellant asked Ms. R if she knew what “masturbation” meant. Ms. R opened her door to escape from the moving car. Appellant stopped the car and Ms. R jumped out, leaving her bags in the back seat.

Someone gave Ms. R a ride to her boyfriend’s barracks. Ms. R’s boyfriend called the military police station at 1915 hours and reported the incident to SGT Bougard, the desk sergeant. The boyfriend described the driver and stated that the driver picked up Ms. R at the Schweinfurt downtown Mark-tplatz in a black, four-door BMW. The boyfriend further stated that the driver had Ms. R’s bags. While SGT Bougard was talking to the boyfriend on the telephone, the appellant walked into the military police (MP) station at 1919 hours with two bags. This was all happening during an MP station shift change. The incoming desk sergeant, SGT Woodhams, saw that SGT Bougard was talking on the telephone and asked the appellant, “May I help you?” Appellant replied that he wanted to talk in private. Sergeant Wood-hams told the appellant that if he wanted to talk about anything criminal he would have to get an investigator to talk to him. Appellant told SGT Woodhams that it was not anything like that. Sergeant Woodhams led the appellant to a nearby room. Appellant told SGT Woodhams that he picked up a hitchhiker in the Schweinfurt downtown Marktplatz area; that she freaked out and tried to jump out of his moving car; that he stopped and let her out along side the autobahn; that she left her bags in his car; and that he wanted to turn the bags over to the police. Sergeant Woodhams gave appellant an “interview worksheet” form to fill out his personal data: name, unit, social security number, etc.

Meanwhile, SGT Bougard told Ms.' R’s boyfriend to bring her to the military police station to make a statement. Sergeant Bou-gard also called MPI Schultz to the station. Sergeant Woodhams went back to the desk and told SGT Bougard what the appellant had said. Sergeant Bougard sent SGT Woodhams to the parking lot to look for a black BMW. Sergeant Woodhams returned with the license plate number of a black BMW. A registration check of the license number indicated that the black BMW was registered to the appellant.

When MPI Schultz arrived at 1935 hours, SGT Bougard briefed him on all the information that they had and told him “things are just a little too close, you know, ... things start to fit a little too much. You know, there’s too many coincidences.” Investigator Schultz testified that at 1935 hours he “made [651]*651the connection” between the boyfriend’s telephone complaint and the soldier at the station, but that he “did not believe we had anything to suspect him of at that time.”

Investigator Schultz instructed SGT Bou-gard and Corporal (CPL) Vincelli, a patrol supervisor who was just reporting for duty, to take a statement from the appellant concerning why he came into the MP station. A patrolman told appellant to write a statement concerning how he got the bags and left him alone to draft it. Appellant was not given a rights warning.

After reviewing appellant’s narrative statement, CPL Vincelli asked him several clarification questions concerning street locations and the contents of the bags and returned the statement to SGT Woodhams (who had now assumed duty as desk sergeant) for review. After coordination with MPI Schultz, CPL Vincelli was instructed to “close out the statement” which means ask one final question: “Do you wish to add anything to this statement?” When asked this question, appellant wrote, “I also, after she got in my car, propositioned her for sex.” Corporal Vincelli again took the statement to the desk sergeant and MPI Schultz for review. Corporal Vincelli testified that MPI Schultz told him, “There’s nothing wrong with that” and directed him to ask the question, “Elaborate on your proposition.” In response to that question, appellant wrote, in part, “I did show her a part of my body.” Corporal Vincelli testified that he again coordinated with MPI Schultz, who instructed him to terminate the interview.

Investigator Schultz testified that he then introduced himself to the appellant, told him that there were allegations being made against him, that he wanted to talk to him but would have to read him his rights first, and that he would do that as soon as he could. (Investigator Schultz was also working a drunk driving case that had just occurred involving the community sergeant major.) The appellant was taken to a holding area and guarded by CPL Vincelli. Investigator Schultz and the interpreter then interviewed Ms. R who made a written statement.

After the victim’s statement was translated, MPI Schultz interviewed the appellant as a suspect. Investigator Schultz executed a proper rights advisement, but did not give appellant any cleansing rights advisement concerning his first statement. Investigator Schultz testified that he used both the victim’s statement and appellant’s first statement when he took the second statement. Appellant testified that he would not have signed the rights waiver if MPI Schultz had not had his first statement.

The written statement that MPI Schultz took from the appellant generally restated what he orally told SGT Woodhams. Appellant also admitted in his statement that he pulled down his shorts, exposed his penis to Ms. R, and asked her if this was what she wanted and would she mind if he masturbated. Appellant also stated in his second statement that he intentionally drove away from the kaserne; that he asked the girl to have sex with him; that he did not grab her between her legs or touch her in any way; that he did not know if she saw his penis; and that he did not masturbate while the girl was in the car.

The military judge ruled that the appellant did not become a suspect until his answer closing out the first statement, “I also, after she got in my car, propositioned her for sex.” The military judge suppressed the “elaborate on your proposition” question and appellant’s, “I did show her a part of my body,” response thereto, but otherwise found the remainder of appellant’s handwritten statement and all of his sworn statement to MPI Schultz admissible.

The military judge concluded, considering the totality of the circumstances surrounding its taking, that appellant’s sworn statement to MPI Schultz was voluntary, finding:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
47 M.J. 649, 1997 CCA LEXIS 588, 1997 WL 774465, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-warren-acca-1997.