United States v. Rios

Opinion of the Court

Quinn, Judge:

An encounter with First Lieutenant Juarez led to trial and conviction of the accused of three offenses by a special court-martial, consisting of a military judge sitting without court members. At issue is whether the evidence is legally sufficient to support the findings of guilty of two of the charges, each of which is for willful disobedience of an order by the lieutenant.

Returning to his unit area from division headquarters, the accused hitched a ride in a military vehicle in which Lieutenant Juarez was a passenger. The lieutenant noticed the accused was…