United States v. Symister

DECISION

CANELLOS, Judge:

Before a special court-martial with members, the accused was convicted, contrary to his pleas, of violating a lawful general regulation [Air Force Regulation 30-17, Safeguarding Controlled Items (Test Material) Information],1 by possessing, without authority, a Specialty Knowledge Test (S.K.T.). The approved sentence extends to a bad conduct discharge and reduction to airman basic.

On appeal, the accused assigns nine errors for our consideration; we will discuss only one. That is the military judge failed to instruct sua sponte on the defense of mistake of fact.

Before…