U.S. v. Harpole, 81 M.J. 8

Core Criminal Law Subjects: Evidence: Confessions and Admissions › Article 31

1. Article 31(b) provides, in relevant part, that no person subject to this chapter may interrogate, or request any statement from, an accused or a person suspected of an offense without first giving the suspected person the proper warnings
2. in this case, a victim advocate was not required to advise appellant of his Article 31(b) rights before talking with him after appellant sought her out in her role as a victim advocate to report that he had been sexually assaulted by another member of the ship’s crew, the same member who filed the sexual assault complaint for which appellant was later convicted; the victim advocate did not do anything that suggested that she was acting for law enforcement or disciplinary purposes: she did not take notes, order appellant to answer questions or write statements, or reach out to the criminal investigative service with a report; in fact, she was so removed from that kind of role that she had no familiarity with Article 31(b) warnings at all; instead, she acted as a supportive victim advocate: she simply listened to appellant’s allegation of sexual assault and then briefed the chain of command about the report, in accordance with her victim advocate training; the few questions that she asked and to which appellant responded were not made in an interrogating manner and did not elicit incriminating statements from appellant