United States v. Nix

Opinion of the Court

Darden, Chief Judge:

If an accused indicates after a court is called to order that he desires a military judge alone to try him, the court-martial must be recessed and the request executed in writing. United States v Dean, 20 USCMA 212, 43 CMR 52 (1970).

In this case, however, the written request followed the testimony of one witness. This procedure does not comply with the holding in Dean, supra, since acceptance of the written request is a jurisdictional prerequisite. Under Dean we do not test for prejudice.

Accordingly, the decision of the Court of Military Review is…