United States v. Wilson

Opinion of the Court

ROBERT E. Quinn, Chief Judge:

Among other offenses, the accused was tried for, and convicted of, disobeying an order by his squadron commander “not to drink liquor.” At trial, he moved to dismiss the charge on the ground the order was illegal. The motion was denied, and the ruling was sustained by intermediate appellate authorities. We granted further review.

The accused was suspected of stealing a tape recorder from the Air Force Exchange. Interrogated by agents of the Office of Special Investigations, he at first denied, but later admitted, that he stole the recorder while…