United States v. Graham

The accused was tried for desertion with intent to remain away permanently. The evidence that the two prior unauthorized absences had been terminated by surrender suggests to me the very antithesis of such an intent, and that — for whatever reason — the accused was no more than a “recidivist absentee,” and not one who sought to leave the Navy once and for all. See my dissent in United States v. Knoph, 2 USCMA 108, 6 CME 108. Accordingly the minimal rélevance of the prosecution evidence of prior absences, weighed against the probability of dam*270'age to the accused from its acceptance in this…