Name: Lewis T. Carter
Case: United States v. Carter No. 00-0314 Crim. App. No. 9701744
Date Of Appeal: October 12, 2000
Plea: Guilty
Charges: Conduct unbecoming of an officer
Military Branch: U.S Army
Listed In National Sex Offenders Registry? NO
Though not charges with a sex offense, the offense qualifies as a sex offender offense under the terms of this site.
A general court-martial convicted appellant, contrary to his pleas, of housebreaking and conduct unbecoming an officer, in violation of Articles 130 and 133, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 USC §§ 930 and 933, respectively.
The adjudged and approved sentence provides for a dismissal, confinement for 5 years, and total forfeitures. Pursuant to Article 58b(b), UCMJ, 10 USC § 858b(b), the convening authority waived the total forfeitures for 6 months. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the findings and sentence without opinion.
Appellant was convicted of housebreaking by unlawfully entering the tent of a sleeping female officer, with intent to indecently assault her, and conduct unbecoming an officer by exposing his penis, masturbating, and ejaculating onto the sleeping female officer. Appellant was identified as the perpetrator of the offenses by comparing the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from the semen on the female officer’s shirt to appellant’s DNA, which was obtained by taking a sample of his blood. The seizure of appellant’s blood was pursuant to a search authorization issued by Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Willis Hunter, a Judge Advocate General’s Corps officer assigned as a military magistrate. The granted issue challenges LTC Hunter’s determination that there was probable cause to issue the search authorization.
At trial, the issue was timely raised by a motion to suppress the evidence obtained from appellant’s blood sample. During the hearing on the motion, LTC Hunter testified that the request for a search authorization was supported by an affidavit from U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) Special Agent (SA) Voos that outlined the results of an investigation by SA Hazell. SA Voos was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. He did not personally conduct the investigation, but instead was relaying the results of SA Hazell’s investigation, which was conducted in Kuwait where the offenses occurred. Appellant’s parent unit was at Fort Hood, and this case was tried at Fort Hood.
The affidavit related that at about 7:56 a.m. on September 25, 1996, First Lieutenant (1LT) CV notified Military Police Sergeant (SGT) Stone that at about 4:25 a.m. on that morning, she was awakened and felt what appeared to be water dripping on her face. She realized that an unidentified man was above her, with his knees against her upper torso and his crotch toward her face. She got up from her cot and chased the unidentified male, shouting at him to stop. Two unit guards, Private First Class (PFC) Vanhoozer and PFC Haywood, chased the unidentified male but could not catch him.
Both PFC Vanhoozer and PFC Haywood told SA Hazell that they were on guard duty between 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. and that they heard a female voice shouting, "Stop, come back here!" or "Stop and come here!" They immediately began chasing a tall black male, who was wearing a battle dress uniform (BDU) but no load-bearing equipment (LBE) or headgear. Both guards described the unidentified male as a fast runner, and they were unable to catch him.
1LT CV stopped running and wiped from her face a fluid substance that she believed to be semen. She wiped one of her hands on her shirt and the other on the ground. 1LT CV was unable to provide any identifying information about the individual other than describing him as a male of medium height.
Sergeant First Class (SFC) Gaskins, a female noncommissioned officer (NCO) who shared the tent with 1LT CV, told SA Hazell that appellant came to the tent about 10:00 p.m. on September 24, 1996, looking for 1LT CV. Appellant told SFC Gaskins that he had a request for a linguist support mission for September 25. 1LT CV was asleep, and SFC Gaskins told appellant that she would give her the message.
Captain (CPT) Harris told SA Hazell that he was outside his tent at about 4:00 a.m. on September 25 and observed a tall, slender, black male, dressed in BDUs, with no LBE or protective mask, run past him with two unit guards in pursuit. CPT Harris stopped the two guards, and they informed him that 1LT CV had been assaulted and that they were pursuing the individual who ran away from her tent.
CPT Creech told SA Hazell that at around 4:45 a.m. on September 25, he heard a female voice screaming, "Come back here!" and he heard people running. He observed 1LT CV in a physical training shirt and shorts, without shoes or socks, and she told him what had happened in her tent. CPT Creech went to the tactical operations center (TOC) and asked for appellant, who was on duty as the Battle Captain. No one in the TOC knew where appellant was. CPT Creech stated that "some time later," appellant entered the TOC, dressed in BDUs with no protective mask, LBE, or headgear. Appellant appeared to be perspiring and appeared nervous or "fidgety." When SA Hazell reinterviewed CPT Creech, he said that when appellant returned to the TOC, he was wearing BDUs and black boots and that he had his protective mask.
Staff Sergeant (SSG) Clark told SA Hazell that he was on duty as the Battle NCO between 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. on September 25. SSG Clark said that when CPT Creech reported the incident involving 1LT CV, he did not know where appellant was. SSG Clark said that when appellant returned to the tent, he assisted the unit guards in making their statements.
1LT Schultze told SA Hazell that he heard something moving outside his tent at about 4:40 a.m. on September 25. It sounded like someone had tripped over a tent rope or pole. He looked outside and saw a "dark skinned soldier," dressed in BDUs, scrambling to get up. He did not see the soldier’s face.
SFC Holden told SA Hazell that he was the NCO in charge of the TOC during duty hours and worked closely with appellant. He said that since the incident involving 1LT CV, appellant’s demeanor changed and he was "extremely nervous, acting at times as if he were in a daze." SFC Holden observed appellant’s hands after the incident and noticed that his palms appeared to be red. When he was reinterviewed, SFC Holden said that appellant showed him both of his hands a few days after the incident and that the insides of his hands were red.
Major (MAJ) Cloy told SA Hazell that he asked appellant to show him his hands. MAJ Cloy noticed that appellant appeared nervous and that his right hand appeared red and dry.
SGT Sims told SA Hazell that appellant returned to the TOC about 20 minutes after CPT Creech came looking for him. He said that appellant appeared tired and nervous, and that his demeanor had changed since the incident. When SA Hazell reinterviewed SGT Sims, SGT Sims said that appellant returned to the TOC wearing BDUs, with no LBE or weapon.
The affidavit recites that appellant was advised of his rights and interviewed by SA Hazell. Appellant denied committing the offense. He declined to provide samples of his blood, saliva, or hair, and he stated that he wanted to consult with his civilian attorney in Texas.
SA Voos stated in the affidavit that appellant is a black male, 68 inches tall, with black hair, brown eyes, and a slim build. He stated that the field site where the incident occurred was a controlled area patrolled by unit guards. Finally, he stated that semen stains were found on 1LT CV’s shirt.
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An Unofficial Site
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Lewis T. Carter
Captain U.S. Army
Attempted Indecent Assault
Exposure And Ejaculation Onto An Officer
