United States v. Irvin

IN THE CASE OF
UNITED STATES, Appellee
v.
Kent D. IRVIN, Master Sergeant
U.S. Air Force, Appellant
No. 03-0224
Crim. App. No. 34756
United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
Argued March 2, 2004
Decided June 10, 2004
ERDMANN, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which
CRAWFORD, C.J., GIERKE, EFFRON, and BAKER, JJ., joined.
Counsel
For Appellant: Major Andrew S. Williams (argued); Colonel
Beverly B. Knott, Major Terry L. McElyea and Captain Diane M.
Paskey (on brief).
For Appellee: Captain Michelle M. Lindo (argued); Colonel
LeEllen Coacher and Lieutenant Colonel Robert V. Combs (on
brief).
Military Judge: Thomas W. Pittman
This opinion is subject to editorial correction before final publication.
United States v. Irvin, No. 03-0224/AF
Judge ERDMANN delivered the opinion of the Court.
Master Sergeant Kent D. Irvin entered a guilty plea and was
convicted by a general court-martial of wrongfully and knowingly
possessing visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually
explicit conduct in violation of clauses 1 and 2 of Article 134,
Uniform Code of Military Justice [UCMJ], 10 U.S.C. § 934 (2000).
He was sentenced by a panel of officer and enlisted members to a
bad-conduct discharge, confinement for one year and reduction to
the lowest enlisted grade.
Although not raised by Irvin as part of his appeal, the Air
Force Court of Criminal Appeals assessed the providence of his
guilty plea in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Ashcroft
v. Free Speech Coalition, 535 U.S. 234 (2002). After concluding
that Free Speech Coalition did not affect Irvin's guilty plea,
the Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and
sentence.
Irvin petitioned this Court for review of his case without
assigning any specific errors in the proceedings below. In
April 2003, we specified the following issue for review:
WHETHER APPELLANT'S PLEAS OF GUILTY TO POSSESSING
CHILD PORNOGRAPHY IN VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 134,
UCMJ, SHOULD BE SET ASIDE IN LIGHT OF ASHCROFT v.
FREE SPEECH COALITION, 122 S.Ct. 1389 (2002).
In November 2003, we specified a second and more narrowly
defined issue for review:
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WHETHER THE POSSESSION OF VISUAL DEPICTIONS OF MINORS
ENGAGING IN SEXUALLY EXPLICIT CONDUCT CAN SERVE AS THE
BASIS FOR A CONVICTION UNDER CLAUSE 1 OR CLAUSE 2 OF
ARTICLE 134 IN LIGHT OF ASHCROFT V. FREE SPEECH COALITION,
535 U.S. 234 (2002) AND UNITED STATES V. O'CONNOR, 58 M.J.
450 (C.A.A.F. 2003).
After reviewing both issues, we conclude that Irvin's guilty
plea is provident and is not affected by Free Speech Coalition
or our decision in O'Connor.
DISCUSSION
A. Standard of Review
The case is focused solely on the providence of Irvin's
guilty plea. For this Court to reject a guilty plea on
appellate review, the record of trial must show a substantial
basis in law and fact for questioning the plea. United States
v. Jordan, 57 M.J. 236, 238 (C.A.A.F. 2002)(citing United States
v. Prater, 32 M.J. 433, 436 (C.M.A. 1991)).
B. The Providence Inquiry and Record of Trial
At the time of the offense in question, Irvin was attached
to a NATO AWACS squadron at Geilenkirchen Air Base, Germany.
The visual depictions that form the basis for his conviction
were lawfully seized from his off-base residence in Hearen,
Germany, in late August 2000 by agents of the Air Force Office
of Special Investigations.
Prior to accepting the plea, the military judge advised
Irvin of the "elements" of the offense with which he was
charged:
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(1) That, at or near, Geilenkirchen NATO Air Base,
Germany, on divers occasions between on or about 2 January
2000 and on or about 29 August 2000, [Irvin] wrongfully and
knowingly possessed visual depictions of minors engaging in
sexually explicit conduct.
(2) That under the circumstances, [Irvin's] conduct
was to the prejudice of good order and discipline, or of a
nature to bring discredit upon the Armed Forces.
He further advised Irvin that, while almost any irregular
or improper act on the part of a service member could be
regarded as prejudicial to good order and discipline in some
indirect or remote sense, only those acts where the prejudicial
effect is reasonably direct and palpable are punishable under
Article 134. See Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2002
ed.) [MCM], Part IV, para. 60.c.(2)(a). He provided the same
explanation with respect to the service-discrediting element,
i.e., that almost any irregular or improper act could be
regarded as service discrediting in some direct or remote sense,
but only those acts which tend to bring the service into
disrepute or tend to lower it in the public esteem are
punishable. Id. at Part IV, para. 60.c.(3).
The specific "act" that Irvin pleaded guilty to was the
possession of "visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually
explicit conduct." The military judge explained that particular
element to Irvin and provided him with definitions of "visual
depiction," "minor" and "sexually explicit conduct."
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The specific factual circumstances of Irvin's conduct were
outlined through both a stipulation of fact and an extensive
colloquy with the military judge. Irvin admitted to downloading
certain images of young girls engaged in sexually explicit
conduct from the Internet to his personal computer at his
residence. He further admitted to printing some of those images
and to downloading approximately 80 images to various types of
computer storage media.
Irvin advised the military judge that he knew "that it is
wrong for an older person to look at minors either nude or
partially clothed." He acknowledged to the military judge that
there was "no doubt in [his] mind" that the individuals in the
images were minors and that there was "no doubt in [his] mind"
that they were engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Finally,
he also acknowledged that he knew that the visual depictions
"were, in fact, minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct."
Irvin admitted in his stipulation that his possession of
the images was prejudicial to good order and discipline or
service-discrediting. He was also specifically asked by the
military judge to explain why his conduct was either prejudicial
to good order and discipline or service-discrediting. Their
subsequent discussion directly focused on the impact of his
conduct on good order and discipline and on community perception
of the military.
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C. The Impact of Free Speech Coalition and O'Connor
The specified issues ask whether the Supreme Court's
decision in Free Speech Coalition and our subsequent decision in
O'Connor create a substantial basis for questioning Irvin's
guilty plea. We conclude they do not.
That conclusion is driven by a critical distinction that
was properly noted by the Court of Criminal Appeals. Although
both the present situation and O'Connor involve guilty pleas to
charges of possessing certain visual images in violation of
Article 134, the criminal nature of the conduct in each case is
measured by different yardsticks. In O'Connor the issue
concerned the providence of a guilty plea to a charge of
violating clause 3 of Article 134, i.e., of committing a "crime
or offense not capital." 58 M.J. at 452. In the present case,
however, Irvin was charged with violating clauses 1 and 2 of
Article 134, i.e., of engaging in conduct prejudicial to good
order and discipline or of a nature to bring discredit upon the
armed forces.
The criminal nature of the conduct at issue in O'Connor
derived from a violation of the Child Pornography Prevention Act
of 1996 (CPPA), 18 U.S.C. § 2252A (2000). 58 M.J. at 452. That
separate federal statute was the subject of the Supreme Court's
decision in Free Speech Coalition, where the Court struck down
portions of its definition of "child pornography" as
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unconstitutionally overbroad. Id. (citing Free Speech
Coalition, 535 U.S. at 256, 258). We did not view O'Connor's
plea to violating that federal statute as provident where the
unconstitutional definition had been used during the plea
colloquy and the record contained no discussion or focus on
those aspects of the statute that had been upheld by the Supreme
Court. Id. at 454.
The criminal nature of the conduct in the present case,
however, does not derive from a clause 3, Article 134 charge
specifying a violation of the CPPA. Irvin was charged under
clauses 1 and 2 of Article 134 with engaging in conduct
prejudicial to good order and discipline or of a nature to bring
discredit to the armed forces by wrongfully and knowingly
possessing "visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually
explicit conduct." Thus, the providence of his guilty plea must
be assessed against the elements of that offense, not the
elements of the CPPA offense at issue in O'Connor and Free
Speech Coalition.
Applying that yardstick, we find no substantial basis in
law or fact to question the providence of Irvin's plea. In
advising Irvin of the elements of the clauses 1 and 2 Article
134 offense, the military judge did not make any reference to
the terms struck down as constitutionally overbroad in Free
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United States v. Irvin, No. 03-0224/AF
Speech Coalition.* The criminal offense that was explained to
Irvin and to which he pleaded guilty did not include a reference
to visual depictions that "appear to be" of a minor engaging in
sexually explicit conduct, or materials that were pandered in a
manner that "conveys the impression" that they include visual
depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. 58
M.J. at 452 (describing portions of the CPPA struck down in Free
Speech Coalition).
The offense that the military judge explained to Irvin and
to which he pleaded guilty was drawn strictly in terms of
"visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit
conduct." Also, Irvin's explanation to the military judge was
not cast in terms of images that "appeared to be" child
pornography as was the case in O'Connor, but rather in terms of
visual depictions that he knew "were, in fact, minors engaging
in sexually explicit conduct." It is these critical aspects of
how Irvin's case was charged and pleaded to that avoids any
impact from Free Speech Coalition or our decision in O'Connor.
*
The military judge’s definition of "visual depiction" consisted
of a blend of the definition of "visual depiction" contained at
18 U.S.C. § 2256(5) (2000) and the opening language from the
definition of "child pornography" at § 2256(8). Similarly, the
definition he gave to Irvin of "sexually explicit conduct" was
drawn from the definition of that term as contained at §
2256(2). None of these definitions were invalidated by Free
Speech Coalition.
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That leaves only the issue of whether a substantial basis
exists for questioning Irvin's plea to either the prejudicial to
good order and discipline or service-discrediting elements of
clauses 1 and 2. Irvin admitted in his stipulation of fact and
during his colloquy with the military judge to downloading and
possessing the images at issue and agreed that he "knew that the
visual depictions were, in fact, minors engaging in sexually
explicit conduct." He also admitted in his stipulation and
during his colloquy with the military judge that his conduct was
prejudicial to good order and discipline and service-
discrediting, including responses to a specific request from the
military judge to explain why his conduct met those elements.
We have in the past affirmed convictions for a lesser-
included offense under clause 2 of Article 134 for the
"possession of images depicting sexually explicit conduct by
minors." United States v. Sapp, 53 M.J. 90, 92 (C.A.A.F. 2000).
See also United States v. Augustine, 53 M.J. 95 (C.A.A.F. 2000).
Although couched as a primary offense rather than a lesser-
included one, the conduct for which Irvin stands convicted is
cast in terms identical to the conduct at issue in Sapp and
Augustine. As in those cases, Irvin admitted to and discussed
with the military judge the character of his conduct as service-
discrediting and prejudicial to good order and discipline.
Under these circumstances, the record reflects no substantial
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basis in law or fact for questioning the providence of his
guilty plea.
CONCLUSION
The decision of the United States Air Force Court of
Criminal Appeals is affirmed.
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