U.S. v. Ferguson, 68 M.J. 431

Military Justice Personnel: Military Judge: Duties and Responsibilities

1. a military judge may not accept a guilty plea if it is irregular, the accused sets up matter inconsistent with the plea, or if it appears that he has entered the plea of guilty improvidently or through lack of understanding of its meaning and effect; the term improvident means heedless, unwary, not circumspect; the term has also been defined as of or relating to a judgment arrived at by using misleading information or a mistaken assumption; to prevent the acceptance of improvident pleas, the military judge is required to make such inquiry of the accused as shall satisfy the military judge that there is a factual basis for the plea

Core Criminal Law Subjects: Crimes: Article 134 - Indecent Exposure Pre-2019 offenses

1. in this case, appellant pled guilty to indecent exposure, and he admitted that his acts of masturbating himself before a webcam in his room while transmitting the live images to an undercover police officer he thought was a 14-year-old boy were performed intentionally, purposefully, and in public view - in a manner that could be observed by members of the public, the undercover officer, and others; by doing so, he relinquished his right to contest the prosecution’s theory on appeal that he ejaculated in public view, unless the record disclosed matter inconsistent with the plea, and it did not disclose any such inconsistent matter; under the circumstances, the military judge was not required to further investigate appellant’s concession that his conduct was undertaken in public view, and the military judge did not abuse his discretion in accepting appellant’s guilty plea; there was no substantial basis in law or fact to question appellant’s plea to indecent exposure

Trial Stages: Merits: Guilty Pleas

1. a military judge may not accept a guilty plea if it is irregular, the accused sets up matter inconsistent with the plea, or if it appears that he has entered the plea of guilty improvidently or through lack of understanding of its meaning and effect; the term improvident means heedless, unwary, not circumspect; the term has also been defined as of or relating to a judgment arrived at by using misleading information or a mistaken assumption; to prevent the acceptance of improvident pleas, the military judge is required to make such inquiry of the accused as shall satisfy the military judge that there is a factual basis for the plea
2. by pleading guilty, an accused does more than admit that he committed the various acts alleged in a specification; he is admitting guilt of a substantive crime
3. (when an accused pleads guilty, there is no requirement that the government establish the factual predicate for the plea; the factual predicate is sufficiently established if the factual circumstances as revealed by the accused himself objectively support that plea). <>
4. (in this case, appellant pled guilty to indecent exposure, and he admitted that his acts of masturbating himself before a webcam in his room while transmitting the live images to an undercover police officer he thought was a 14-year-old boy were performed intentionally, purposefully, and in public view - in a manner that could be observed by members of the public, the undercover officer, and others; by doing so, he relinquished his right to contest the prosecution’s theory on appeal that he ejaculated in public view, unless the record disclosed matter inconsistent with the plea, and it did not disclose any such inconsistent matter; under the circumstances, the military judge was not required to further investigate appellant’s concession that his conduct was undertaken in public view, and the military judge did not abuse his discretion in accepting appellant’s guilty plea; there was no substantial basis in law or fact to question appellant’s plea to indecent exposure). <>

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

1. an appellate court reviews a military judge’s decision to accept a guilty plea for an abuse of discretion and questions of law arising from the guilty plea de novo; in doing so, it applies the substantial basis test, looking at whether there is something in the record of trial, with regard to the factual basis or the law, that would raise a substantial question regarding appellant’s guilty plea
2. an appellate court will not overturn a military judge’s acceptance of a guilty plea based on a mere possibility of a defense; nor will it speculate post-trial as to the existence of facts which might invalidate an appellant’s guilty pleas