United States v. Wright

Opinion of the Court

Quinn, Chief Judge:

A general court-martial convicted the accused of taking indecent liberties with an eight-year-old girl. The conviction was affirmed by intermediate authorities. Two assignments of error are alleged in regard to instructions given by the law officer as to both the merits and the sentence.

During an out-of-court hearing, defense counsel submitted written requests to instruct in regard to the merits. Among these was an instruction as to the effect of character evidence, which, in part, provided that “evidence of accused’s good character may be sufficient to…