United States v. Washburne

59 M.J. 866, 2004 CCA LEXIS 94, 2004 WL 782891
CourtNavy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals
DecidedApril 9, 2004
DocketNMCCA 200300123
StatusPublished

This text of 59 M.J. 866 (United States v. Washburne) 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. Washburne, 59 M.J. 866, 2004 CCA LEXIS 94, 2004 WL 782891 (N.M. 2004).

Opinion

HARRIS, Judge:

The appellant was tried by a general court-martial composed of a military judge, sitting alone. Pursuant to his pleas, the appellant was convicted of: (1) two specifications of knowingly possessing child pornography; and, (2) two specifications of knowingly distributing child pornography, in violation of Article 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. § 934, and 18 U.S.C. § 2252A. The appellant was sentenced to confinement for 85 days, reduction to pay grade E-2, forfeiture of $300.00 pay per month for 3 months, and a bad-conduct discharge. The convening authority approved the adjudged sentence and, except for the bad-conduct discharge, ordered the punishment executed.

We have carefully considered the record of trial, the appellant’s two assignments of error, in which he asserts that his pleas of guilty to possessing and distributing child pornography was improvident and that 18 U.S.C. § 2252A violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, and the Government’s response. We conclude that the findings and the sentence are cor[867]*867rect in law and fact and that no error materially prejudicial to the substantial rights of the appellant was committed. Arts. 59(a) and 66(c), UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. §§ 859(a) and 866(c).

Background

It is a crime to:
... knowingly possesses any book, magazine, periodical, film, videotape, computer disk, or any other material that contains an image of child pornography that has been mailed, or shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce by any means, including by computer, or that was produced using materials that have been mailed, or shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce by any means, including by computer[J

18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(B). Additionally, it is also a crime for any person to knowingly distribute:

(A) any child pornography that has been mailed,shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce by any means, including by computer; or,
(B) any material that contains child pornography that has been mailed, or shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce by any means, including by eomputer[.]

18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2). On 16 April 2002, after the appellant’s trial, but before the convening authority acted on the appellant’s case, the Supreme Court decided Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, 535 U.S. 234, 122 S.Ct. 1389, 152 L.Ed.2d 403 (2002). In Free Speech Coalition, the Supreme Court addressed a challenge to two of the four sections of 18 U.S.C. 2256 (Child Pornography Prevention Act (CPPA)), which defines child pornography. The petitioners in Free Speech Coalition challenged language defining child pornography as images in which: (1) the visual depiction “is, or appears to be, of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct;” or, (2) the image is “advertised, promoted, presented, described, or distributed in such a manner that conveys the impression” that it depicts “a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.” Id. at 241, 122 S.Ct. 1389 (emphasis added); see also 18 U.S.C. § 2256(8)(B) and (D). Finding these provisions prohibited a “substantial amount of protected speech,” the Court deemed the challenged language overbroad and unconstitutional. Free Speech Coalition, 535 U.S. at 241-42, 122 S.Ct. 1389. The Court’s ruling left intact two other definitions of child pornography, including the definition targeting images where “the production of such visual depiction involves the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct[.]” 18 U.S.C. § 2256(8)(A).

Insufficient Providence Inquiry

In the appellant’s first assignment of error, he asserts that his pleas of guilty to possessing and distributing child pornography in contravention of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2) and (5)(B), were improvident, because the providence inquiry is devoid of any factual basis discussing how the images which lead to the charges were produced. In effect, the appellant is implicitly arguing that the military judge did not sufficiently establish whether he possessed images that were created using actual children, as opposed to virtual images. The appellant avers that this court should set aside his conviction. We disagree.

In United States v. Leco, 59 M.J. 705 (N.M.Ct.Crim.App.2003), this court held in cases involving child pornography, brought under 18 U.S.C. § 2252, that the statute’s various subsections “set out the numerous prohibitions designed to prevent child pornography, to forbid every act by which child pornography could adversely affect the United States, and to extend the prohibitions to the maximum extent of Congress’ legislative authority under the Commerce Clause.” Leco, 59 M.J. at 707-08. The Leco court’s conclusions also apply to child pornography cases, such as the appellant’s, brought under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A.

For a military judge to accept an accused’s guilty plea, his inquiry must both establish that “the accused himself believes he is guilty” and that “the factual circumstances as revealed by the accused himself objectively support that plea”. United States v. Higgins, 40 M.J. 67, 68 (C.M.A.1994)(quoting United States v. Davenport, 9 M.J. 364, 367 (C.M.A.1980)); Unit[868]*868ed States v. Care, 40 C.M.R. 247, 1969 WL 6059 (C.M.A.1969); see also Art. 45(a), UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 845(a). This inquiry must elicit sufficient facts to satisfy every element of the offense in question. Rule for Courts-Martial 910(e), Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2000 ed.), Discussion. R.C.M. 910 requires the military judge to inform the accused of, and determine that the accused understands the nature of, the offense to which the guilty plea is offered. A military judge, however, is not required “to embark on a mindless fishing expedition to ferret out or negate all possible defenses or potential inconsistencies.” United States v. Jackson, 23 M.J. 650, 652 (N.M.C.M.R.1986).

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United States v. Dawson
50 M.J. 599 (Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals, 1999)
United States v. Leco
59 M.J. 705 (Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals, 2003)
United States v. Care
18 C.M.A. 535 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1969)
United States v. Kilgore
21 C.M.A. 35 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1971)
United States v. Davenport
9 M.J. 364 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1980)
United States v. Pretlow
13 M.J. 85 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1982)
United States v. Jackson
23 M.J. 650 (U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Military Review, 1986)
United States v. Prater
32 M.J. 433 (United States Court of Military Appeals, 1991)
United States v. Nystrom
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United States v. Higgins
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Bluebook (online)
59 M.J. 866, 2004 CCA LEXIS 94, 2004 WL 782891, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-washburne-nmcca-2004.