- the MCM prescribes two elements for self-injury without the intent to avoid service: (1) that the accused intentionally inflicted injury upon himself or herself; and (2) that, under the circumstances, the conduct of the accused was to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces or was of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces; the MCM further states that the circumstances and extent of the injury are relevant to a determination that the accused’s conduct was prejudicial to good order and discipline, or service-discrediting
- an attempted suicide may be a sufficient basis for a charge of intentional self-infliction of injury to the prejudice of good order and discipline
- there was a substantial basis in law and fact for questioning appellant’s guilty plea to committing the offense of self-injury without the intent to avoid service where his plea did not establish that his conduct was to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces, or of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces, and thus did not satisfy the elements of the offense; first, the record is clear that appellant engaged in a bona fide suicide attempt, and his conduct was not to the prejudice of good order and discipline where (1) his actions were precipitated by the death of a friend and the prospect of going to the brig, (2) he attempted suicide while alone in his barracks room, and (3) a gunnery sergeant and medically trained corpsman administered first aid to him, as they would have in response to any other injury; second, appellant’s statement during the providence inquiry that his suicide attempt could discredit the service because the public would look less favorably toward the Marine Corps and view his superiors as not doing their jobs did not establish that his conduct was service discrediting; to the contrary, this statement indicates that in appellant’s view it was not his actions that would cause discredit, but the failure of his unit’s leaders that would have a tendency to cause discredit
CAAF Opinion Digest · III.A.103a · Crimes Pre-2019 offenses
Article 134 -- Self-injury without Intent to Avoid Service (para 103a, MCM)
Offenses committed before 1 January 2019 (pre-2016 amendment) — opinions from the 1999 through 2020 Terms of Court.
1 digested opinion, 2012–2012 Terms
2012 (September Term)
Source and status
This is a verbatim mirror of the Opinion Digest and opinions tables published by the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. The headnotes are the court staff’s summaries of the opinions, reproduced as published; they are not the opinions themselves and not this site’s commentary. Nothing here is edited on this site.
Last updated by the court: Oct 13, 2026 · mirrored Oct 29, 2026 · digest page IIIA103a · Always confirm a holding against the opinion itself (linked from each case name).