United States v. Wright

48 M.J. 894
CourtUnited States Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals
DecidedOctober 15, 1998
DocketACM 32731
StatusPublished

This text of 48 M.J. 894 (United States v. Wright) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Air Force 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. Wright, 48 M.J. 894 (afcca 1998).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

SPISAK, Judge:

Charged with rape, housebreaking, and two specifications of indecent assault, the appellant pled guilty to one specification of indecent assault and to unlawful entry as opposed to housebreaking. He pled not guilty to rape and the remaining specification of indecent assault. The military judge found the appellant guilty of the indecent assault, but withheld findings on the unlawful entry -plea in order to allow the government to prove the charged offense of housebreaking. The appellant’s defense counsel, in response to questions from the military judge, asked that the members be advised of the finding of guilty to the one specification of indecent assault and of his plea of guilty to unlawful entry. Officer members found the appellant not guilty of rape but guilty of the lesser included offense of indecent assault; not guilty of the remaining specification of indecent assault but guilty of assault consummated by a battery; and, contrary to his [898]*898guilty plea to the lesser included offense of unlawful entry, guilty of housebreaking.

The members sentenced the appellant to receive a bad-conduct discharge, be confined for 6 months, serve three months at hard labor without confinement, and be reduced to the grade of E-3, Airman First Class. The convening authority reduced the hard labor without confinement to one month but otherwise approved the sentence. The appellant now raises four assignments of error: (1) legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence of indecent assault in Charge I which had been charged as rape; (2) testimony from a psychologist improperly bolstered the credibility of a key government witness; (3) Military Rule of Evidence (Mil.R.Evid.) 413 violates the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the United States Constitution; and (4) the military judge erred by not going through a United States v. Bertelson-type inquiry when the appellant admitted facts establishing a prima facie case of housebreaking during his guilty plea inquiry. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

When the appellant’s co-worker, Airman First Class (A1C) JD, and her husband separated, the appellant offered to help her move. At about 2 A.M. the morning of the planned move, the appellant called to ask if he could come over early rather than wait until the planned moving time. A1C JD had a girlfriend, Airman (Amn) C, at the apartment helping her move small things, so she agreed. The two women met the appellant in a nearby parking lot and he followed them to the new apartment where they unloaded A1C JD’s car. They then returned to the old apartment and chatted until the two women fell asleep. A1C JD curled up on one end of the couch with the appellant sitting on the other end. Amn C was asleep on a love seat a few feet away.

A1C JD awoke about 3 A.M. with the appellant “kind of on top of’ her. She told several versions of the story to various people. To one friend she said she awoke to find the appellant kissing her and with his hands on her body. To another friend she said that he had his finger in her vagina when she awoke. To the OSI she first said the appellant had his finger in her vagina, but latter asserted that it was his penis.

A1C JD testified that, when she awoke, her shorts were unbuttoned, unzipped, and pulled down to the middle of her thighs and her panties were pulled aside. She first testified that the appellant was “trying to put his penis inside [her] vagina,” then, in response to the question, “How far did he get?”, A1C JD answered, “I’m not for sure, but I would think maybe one fourth of his penis.” A1C JD testified that when she yelled at him the appellant asked if she wanted him to leave. She said, “I don’t give a f— what you do, just don’t touch me.” The appellant left and JD went back to sleep without locking the door.

When she awoke around 9 A.M., A1C JD told Amn C what had happened, including that the appellant had tried to insert his penis into her vagina. The appellant returned to help with the remainder of the move and A1C JD allowed him to help because, she said, not many other friends had come to her assistance. At an office staff meeting the next week, A1C JD thanked the appellant for his help. A number of witnesses testified that they noticed no difference in A1C JD’s attitude toward the appellant after her move.

A few weeks later, while at work, A1C JD was in a storage room getting something when the appellant came up behind her and placed his hand between her legs and against her vagina. She yelled at him and he left. Amn C and another airman were standing in the hallway just outside the storeroom and heard A1C JD and the appellant talking. After the appellant left, A1C JD came out of the storeroom and told Amn C that the appellant had grabbed her between the legs. A1C JD never reported either incident to anyone in authority.

Several months later, A1C SP, saw the appellant talking to a friend of hers in the lobby of the Enlisted Club. A1C SP rejoined her other friends in the Club bar for a short time then walked back to her dormitory. She passed the appellant in the dormitory hallway. Shortly after she returned to her [899]*899room, A1C SP heard a knock on her neighbor’s door, then on her own. When she opened the door A1C SP saw the appellant, who asked if she knew where her neighbor had gone. A1C SP said she didn’t know and tried to close the door, but the appellant held the door and asked why a pretty thing like her had come home alone. She replied, “None of your business,” and closed the door. At about 5 A.M. the next morning, A1C SP awoke with someone putting his finger in her vagina under her panties. She yelled and asked, “What are you doing?” and her assailant said, “I thought you invited me to come back.” As he left, she saw the appellant’s face clearly. She reported the incident to the security police a few days later after she asked her friend for the name of the man with whom she had been speaking at the Club.

After AJC SP reported that she had been assaulted and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) began an investigation, someone told the OSI they should talk with A1C JD. Only when she was questioned by the OSI did A1C JD report the two incidents which had occurred several months earlier and which form the bases of Charge I and Charge III, Specification 1.

PROPENSITY EVIDENCE UNDER Mil.R.Evid. 413

In cases involving sexual assault, Mil. R.Evid. 413 authorizes admission of evidence that the accused has committed one or more other sexual assault offenses and permits the finder of fact to consider this other misconduct “for its bearing on any matter to which it is relevant.” However, the rule was not used in the case at hand to determine whether or not evidence that the appellant sexually assaulted A1C SP was admissible. Despite his plea of guilty to indecently assaulting A1C SP, the government presented evidence of this assault during their case in chief in an effort to prove the intent element of the housebreaking offense. The appellant’s defense counsel admitted that the government had to present evidence of the assault in order to perfect its case on housebreaking, but asked, by way of a motion in limine, that the military judge prevent the trial counsel from arguing that this assault showed a propensity to commit such assaults. The military judge denied the motion and both permitted the trial counsel to make the propensity argument and later instructed the jury concerning the use of such evidence to show propensity.

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Bluebook (online)
48 M.J. 894, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-wright-afcca-1998.