C.A.A.F. decides United States v. Phillips

The Court decided United States v. Phillips today. For those who have been waiting fifty-six years for the C.A.A.F. to answer those burning questions about whether and when a substitute convening authority may execute a contingent fine, this case will make you wonder why you did not watch the moon landings instead.

Major Phillips, who was setting up shell companies and then paying "bills" with government credit cards to the tune of $400,000 USD, was sentenced to five years confinement, dismissal, a reprimand, and a $400,000 fine. The court-martial imposed an additional five years of confinement if Major Phillips failed to pay the fine. Days before he was to be released from confinement, a substitute convening authority with no previous connection to the case held a fine enforcement hearing. The hearing officer rejected Major Phillips's claim of indigence and the convening authority executed the additional confinement. The C.A.A.F. assures us that the convening authority was not a "substitute convening authority", but rather the "authority considering imposition of confinement" under R.C.M. 1113(d)(3). Problem solved. For the four or five convicted and confined servicemembers who have not paid contingent fines, who have internet access, who are not concerned with ex-parte communications with convicted servicemembers, and are reading this blog, there may be a convening authority somewhere that is watching. The mission to Mars is only a few years off.