United States v. Manuel

DECISION

HERMAN, Senior Judge:

While we find that one who encourages a thief not to return stolen property is an accessory after the fact, we set aside the sentence as a result of the trial judge’s error in effectively placing a burden upon the accused to present evidence in order to avoid a bad conduct discharge.

A military judge sitting as a special court-martial convicted the accused, consonant with his pleas, of accessory after the fact to larceny, of a subsequent unrelated larceny, and of willful destruction of an M-16 rifle, violations of Articles 78, 121, and 108, respectively, of the…