United States v. Watford

Opinion of the Court

EVERETT, Senior Judge:

Contrary to his pleas, Sergeant Watford was convicted of the premeditated murder of his wife1 and was sentenced to the mandatory term of life imprisonment,2 as well as a dishonorable discharge, total forfeitures, and reduction to the lowest enlisted grade. These results were approved by the convening authority and were affirmed by the Court of Military Review in an unpublished opinion.

We granted review of appellant’s case to consider the following issue:

WHETHER THE MILITARY JUDGE ERRED TO APPELLANT’S PREJUDICE BY FAILING, SUA SPONTE, TO INSTRUCT THE…