U.S. v. Bullman, 56 M.J. 377

Core Criminal Law Subjects: Crimes: Article 134 -- Debt, Dishonorably Failing to Pay Pre-2019 offenses

1. a mere failure to pay a debt does not establish dishonorable conduct; even a negligent failure to pay a debt is not dishonorable; the term "dishonorable" connotes a state of mind amounting to gross indifference or bad faith, and is characterized by deceit, evasion, false promises, denial of indebtedness, or other distinctly culpable circumstances
2. appellant’s plea to dishonorably failing to pay a debt was improvident where: (1) the military judge did not define the term "dishonorable" during his inquiry into the plea; (2) the military judge did not mention the term as it applied to the debt, nor did he tell appellant whether the term as applied to the bad checks had the same meaning when applied to the debt; (3) the military judge did not elicit a sufficient factual predicate for the guilty plea to dishonorably failing to pay the AAFES debt; (4) there is nothing in the plea inquiry showing why appellant believed that his conduct regarding the AAFES debt was characterized by deceit, evasion, false promises, or other distinctly culpable circumstances indicating a deliberate nonpayment or grossly indifferent attitude; (5) the military judge elicited only legal conclusions, in which appellant repeated verbatim the conclusions in the written stipulation of fact - a rote recitation of the elements of the offense was inadequate; and (6) appellant made statements and stipulated to facts inconsistent with dishonorable conduct

Trial Stages: Merits: Guilty Pleas

1. in conducting the required inquiry into a proffered guilty plea, the military judge must: (1) inform the accused of the nature of the offense to which the guilty plea is offered; (2) question an accused about what he did or did not do, and what he intended (where this is pertinent); (3) make such inquiry of the accused as shall satisfy the military judge that there is a factual basis for the plea; (4) ensure that the factual circumstances as revealed by the accused himself objectively support that plea of guilty; (5) not elicit only legal conclusions, but must elicit facts from which the military judge can determine the factual basis for the plea
2. a mere possibility of a defense does not render a plea of guilty improvident; on appeal, a guilty plea should be overturned only if the record fails to objectively support the plea or there is evidence in substantial conflict with the pleas of guilty
3. in deciding whether a plea is rendered improvident by statements inconsistent with the plea, the sole question is whether the statement was inconsistent, not whether it was credible or plausible
4. appellant’s plea to dishonorably failing to pay a debt was improvident where: (1) the military judge did not define the term "dishonorable" during his inquiry into the plea; (2) the military judge did not mention the term as it applied to the debt, nor did he tell appellant whether the term as applied to the bad checks had the same meaning when applied to the debt; (3) the military judge did not elicit a sufficient factual predicate for the guilty plea to dishonorably failing to pay the AAFES debt; (4) there is nothing in the plea inquiry showing why appellant believed that his conduct regarding the AAFES debt was characterized by deceit, evasion, false promises, or other distinctly culpable circumstances indicating a deliberate nonpayment or grossly indifferent attitude; (5) the military judge elicited only legal conclusions, in which appellant repeated verbatim the conclusions in the written stipulation of fact - a rote recitation of the elements of the offense was inadequate; and (6) appellant made statements and stipulated to facts inconsistent with dishonorable conduct

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

1. a mere possibility of a defense does not render a plea of guilty improvident; on appeal, a guilty plea should be overturned only if the record fails to objectively support the plea or there is evidence in substantial conflict with the pleas of guilty