United States v. Hopwood

DECISION

KASTL, Senior Judge:

In United States v. Thomas, 25 M.J. 396 (C.M.A.1988), Chief Judge Everett closely analyzed the military crime of forgery; he cautioned that “Article 123, in its present form, creates a trap for unwary prosecutors, in that the legal efficacy requirement may be overlooked.” Id. at 402. In the case before us, we find that the prosecution avoided that booby trap. We hold that the credit application involved here satisfied the “legal efficacy requirement” and was a proper subject of forgery.

Despite pleas of not guilty, the appellant was found guilty by a general…