United States v. Alexander & U.S. v. Vanderschaaf

Judge EFFRON

delivered the opinion of the Court.

The present appeal concerns two guilty plea cases in which issues have arisen concerning the content of the findings approved by the convening authority. The first portion of this opinion describes the pertinent background for each case. In the second part of the opinion, we consider the principles governing the relationship between findings rendered at trial and the findings approved by the convening authority. The third part of the opinion considers the action taken by the United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals with respect to the…