United States v. Barnes

Opinion of the Court

Darden, Chief Judge:

After the appellant’s plea of guilty, a special court-martial convicted him of larceny. The question before this Court is whether the procedure employed in the case satisfied the requirement of United States v Donohew, 18 USCMA 149, 39 CMR 149 (1969), that the military judge obtain direct responses from an accused concerning his awareness of his right to counsel under Article 38(b), Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 USC § 838.1

The inquiry under review began with a question by the military judge to defense counsel that brought out that counsel had…