U.S. v. Pacheco, 56 M.J. 1

Core Criminal Law Subjects: Crimes: Article 92 - Failure to Obey Order or Regulation Pre-2019 offenses

1. under the standard for legal sufficiency of evidence, appellant’s knowledge of his duty to safeguard a weapon from unlawful appropriation or retention – including appropriation or retention by unit members to obtain and keep weapons as trophies – and his willful dereliction of this duty are established by the evidence that after he was informed that the taking of weapons as trophies was not permitted, appellant failed either to return the weapon or to inform the authorities of its taking

Core Criminal Law Subjects: Crimes: Article 121 - Larceny and Wrongful Appropriation Pre-2019 offenses

1. evidence was legally sufficient to show the wrongfulness of appellant’s taking or withholding of a weapon, as well as his intent permanently to deprive the owner of the use and benefit of the weapon, where that evidence revealed that appellant did not return the pistol or inform the authorities of its taking after being informed that the taking of weapons was not permitted and that all weapons had to be returned prior to a shakedown

Trial Stages: Appeals: Standards of Review, Burdens, etc.

1. the standard used to determine whether evidence is legally sufficient requires all relevant evidence to be viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, including reasonable inferences to be drawn from that evidence
2. in assessing evidence under the standard for legal sufficiency of the evidence, the court need not consider whether an alleged directive constituted an apparently lawful order where testimony – which was not challenged at trial – that a sergeant disavowed in appellant’s presence any knowledge of or responsibility for appellant’s taking of the weapon effectively nullifies appellant’s argument that he acted pursuant to an apparently lawful order in obtaining a Desert Eagle