United States v. Alba

OPINION OF THE COURT

COHEN, Judge:

Appellant was convicted, contrary to his pleas, of several specifications of willful damage to non-military property and of larceny. The primary issue on appeal is whether the military judge properly admitted into evidence appellant’s confession to these offenses.

Between 0115 and 0200 hours on 27 September 1981, a military police patrol observed and reported three abandoned, but apparently undamaged, vehicles along a one- or two-mile stretch of Copperas Cove Road on Fort Hood, Texas. Driving this stretch some two or three hours later, the patrol noticed that…