CAAF Opinion Digest · one opinion, every topic
U.S. v. Medina, 72 M.J. 148
Decided May 2, 2013 · No. 13-5002/CG · September 2012 Term · Opinion (PDF)
Digested under 2 topics
Core Criminal Law Subjects: Crimes: Article 125 - Sodomy Pre-2019 offenses
- the accused’s guilty plea to consensual sodomy with an adult in violation of Article 125, UCMJ, was improvident where the providence inquiry, in which the military judge added an element requiring that the act of sodomy be prejudicial to good order and discipline, failed to ensure the accused’s personal understanding of matters critical to his guilt; that is, the military judge failed to discuss with the accused why this additional element removed his sexual activity from the liberty interest protection recognized in Lawrence (539 US 558) and Marcum (60 MJ 198) and subjected that activity to criminal sanction
Trial Stages: Merits: Guilty Pleas
- the accused’s guilty plea to consensual sodomy with an adult in violation of Article 125, UCMJ, was improvident where the providence inquiry, in which the military judge added an element requiring that the act of sodomy be prejudicial to good order and discipline, failed to ensure the accused’s personal understanding of matters critical to his guilt; that is, the military judge failed to discuss with the accused why this additional element removed his sexual activity from the liberty interest protection recognized in Lawrence (539 US 558) and Marcum (60 MJ 198) and subjected that activity to criminal sanction
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