Name: David D. Tate
Case: United States v. Tate No. 06-0291 Crim. App. No. 200201202
Date Of Conviction: 2006
Plea: Guilty
Charges: Murder Sodomy Adultery
Military Branch: U.S. Navy
Listed In National Sex Offenders Registry? NO
The married appellant engaged in sodomy on divers occasions with Hospital Corpsman Third Class (HM3) Andrea Bart1 at her on base residence between August 1998 and February 1999. The appellant was senior to HM3 Bart. She was in his direct chain of command, and consent to sex was not necessarily easy to refuse for fear of reprisal. When the petty officer superior to both of them was not present, the appellant was in charge. Others became aware of their relationship, and it caused problems in the unit.
It had begun to affect the appellant’s and HM3 Bart’s performance. The two went to their common superior, Petty Officer Thomas, to lie to her in an effort to convince her the rumors about their relationship were not true. The appellant killed his wife with a gun on February 13, 1999. He hid the body in a gully, in a pool of water, covering it with palm fronds. He cleaned the area of the killing and removed the gun from the home. He later made a number of false statements to military police and Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents in an effort to cover up the killing. The appellant, at HM3 Bart’s request, also hid various cards, photographs and books that they had exchanged during the relationship. The appellant felt these documents showed a motive for the murder.
Chief Judge Effron delivered the opinion of the Court. A general court-martial composed of a military judge sitting alone convicted Appellant, pursuant to his pleas, of conspiracy to obstruct justice, false official statement (three specifications), premeditated murder, sodomy, obstruction of justice (five specifications), and adultery, in violation of Articles 81, 107, 118, 125, and 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), 10 U.S.C. §§ 881, 907, 918, 925, 934 (2000), respectively. He was sentenced on 14 June 2000.
The adjudged and approved sentence included a dishonorable discharge, confinement for life without parole, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and reduction to the lowest enlisted grade. The convening authority suspended confinement in excess of fifty years for twelve months pursuant to a pretrial agreement. The Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed in an unpublished opinion.
Appellant and the convening authority entered into a pretrial agreement. Appellant agreed to: (1) plead guilty to all charges; (2) request a trial by military judge alone and waive his right to trial by members; (3) forego the production, at government expense, of sentencing witnesses except for personal family members; (4) begin and complete trial within specified dates; (5) not object to the prosecution’s sentencing evidence; and (6) waive both mandatory and discretionary consideration by the Navy Clemency and Parole Board for a period of twenty years, ending on July 9, 2019, and decline clemency or parole if offered during that period.
In return, the convening authority agreed to: (1) dismiss one of the charges; (2) provide a non-binding recommendation that Appellant serve his confinement at the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; (3) suspend any period of confinement in excess of fifty years; and (4) defer and suspend adjudged and automatic forfeitures for specified periods, and waive automatic forfeitures for six months for the benefit of his sons.
Appellant complied with the terms of agreement at trial and received a sentence that included confinement for life without parole. The convening authority, pursuant the pretrial agreement, suspended the forfeitures and suspended the period of confinement in excess of fifty years.
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Sexual Offender
Conviction Records
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An Unofficial Site
Of United States Military
Sexual Offender
Conviction Records
Not Associated With The U.S. Military Or Government
David D. Tate
Hospital Corpsman Second Class U.S. Navy
Premeditated Murder
Sodomy - Adultery
