United States v. Smith

Opinion of the Court

Appealing from his special court-martial conviction by officer members, Smith asks this Court to determine whether the military judge committed prejudicial error by informing the members, before they heard evidence on the merits of two contested offenses, that guilty pleas had been entered to two other charges. Under the circumstances of this case, we conclude that he did.

I

At his arraignment, Smith pleaded guilty to a 3-day unauthorized absence (Charge I and its specification) and to use of marijuana during March 1984 (specification 1 of Charge III). However, he pleaded…