United States v. Rooks

On his pleas, Specialist Rooks was convicted of unauthorized absence, escape from confinement, and assault with a means likely to produce grievous bodily harm, in violation of Articles 86, 95, and 128, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 USC §§ 886, 895, and 928, respectively. In his petition to this Court, he contended for the first time1 that the military judge should not have accepted his pleas to the last offense because his responses suggested matters substantially inconsistent with guilt. See Art. 45(a), UCMJ, 10 USC § 845(a). The issue we specified for review shifted the focus…