U.S. v. Walker, 57 M.J. 174

Trial Stages: Appeals: Harmless / Prejudicial Error

1. in a case pitting the credibility of appellant against that of the victim, the defense theory – to portray the victim as a passive, compliant child, who had embellished an inadvertent, innocent act in response to the intense, repeated, and suggestive questioning of a host of well-meaning adults – was seriously undermined by the admission of the hearsay statement of appellant’s wife which was used by the Government to show that, two days after the incident, long before anyone began questioning the victim and long before she was subjected to the influences of well-meaning adults, appellant made a damaging admission to his wife

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

1. the question whether an error was harmless is reviewed de novo
2. the test for nonconstitutional error is whether the error itself had substantial influence on the findings - if so, or if one is left in grave doubt, the conviction cannot stand
3. the test for constitutional error is whether the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt