writing – Page 3 – Conduct Unbecoming

062 US v. Dillenburger

I have a pretty serious food allergy – one I feel compelled to share with restaurant staff and friends we visit with. It’s deeply unfun, but the alternative is, you know, anaphylaxis. The silver lining I’ve been able to identify is that it shows me how fiercely I’m loved by family and friends, who generously announce to others at parties that they, too, are responsible for not murdering me. For my servicemember spouse, I am equally fiercely protective of what comes into our home. We live in a state where recreational marijuana use is legal. Incidental exposure is a possible risk, so, when in doubt, we abstain or throw things out. It’s hardly a sacrifice and, with our efforts combined, I stay alive and my spouse stays employed. A real win-win.

If he’s to be believed, Navy Diver First Class Dillenburger could have really benefited from similar vigilance.

My primary source for this episode was the NMCCA opinion. As promised, I’m including a link to the Mathews v. Eldridge SCOTUS opinion.

This episode discussed substance use. If you, or someone you know is struggling with substance use, the SAMHSA National Helpline can be reached at 1-800-662-HELP and their treatment locator is available online.

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Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share, rate and review it wherever you listen to podcasts. I’m happy to receive constructive feedback or case suggestions at conductunbecomingpod@gmail.com. Join me over on Instagram @conductunbecoming!

Disclaimer: Conduct Unbecoming is a podcast where I get to talk about interesting crimes and cases that involve US military service members. I research, write, and produce the podcast myself… the opinions expressed are my own and, perhaps it’s obvious, Conduct Unbecoming is not approved, endorsed, or authorized by the Department of Defense. I am not a military JAG and have never been a military JAG. While I’m a practicing attorney, I don’t do direct criminal defense. This podcast is a passion project, not legal advice or expert opinion.

053 AZ v. Gooch

Four hundred years ago, the religious climate in England was tense. When colonists began moving to America, it was under the promise that they could practice their religion freely. I wish there was a deeper commitment to maintaining separation between church and state now. But the dismay I feel when I hear about mandating religious practice in public spaces apparently pales in comparison to the dismay Airman First Class Gooch felt at people quietly exercising their faith nearly 400 miles away from him.

My primary resource in this case is the Arizona Court of Appeal Opinion.

I also referenced details from Wikipedia, the Air Force Times(1)(2)(3), KNAU (1)(2), the New York Post, Fox 10, OSI and AETV.

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052 US v. Cassaberry-Folks

Single servicemembers that deploy from duty stations stateside often put their belongings in some kind of storage. It’s a dicey proposition because some storage facilities are terrible. Cars present their own special challenge and dead batteries are common. When a friend of ours was out of the country for six months, I was great at starting the car up for the first few months, but my streak soon fell apart. I got the battery replaced and I was able to drop the car off for him a few hours before he returned so he could get home without that hassle. Staff Sergeant Cassaberry-Folks was given a similar opportunity to care for a member of his community. When he handed the keys over, it wasn’t to the airman he was assisting, it was to someone he fraudulently sold the car to.

This episode involved discussion of sexual assault. There are a number of resources available for survivors and victim of sexual assault, including the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). They offer a free, confidential national sexual assault hotline at 800-656-HOPE as well as an online chat option. young woman, abandoning her body in a suitcase.

My primary resource in this case is the AFCCA opinion.

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051 Japan v. Gadson

One night while driving in Okinawa, my eyes wandered to the side of the road where a young Japanese woman was walking. She wore heels and walked slowly. She had her headphones in both ears, had her phone out and was distracted by it and wore her hair in a ponytail. As I watched, she took a right-hand turn down a poorly lit alleyway.

It was in that moment that it became abundantly clear that the United States had taught me a different set of skills that I needed in order to stay safe so that I wouldn’t be blamed if something happened to me.

The young woman I observed endured no such lesson and was able to walk unconcerned about her own safety in an area where the unthinkable had actually already happened barely 5 years earlier.

She didn’t have her keys in between her knuckles is a measure of self-defense. She seemed unconcerned that her ponytail would be easy for an assailant to yank. She was distracted by her cell phone and had both headphones in–she couldn’t hear her surroundings. She walked by herself at night down a dark alleyway without fear: no head on a swivel, no furtive glances over her shoulders or trying to remember license plates for cars that drove a little too close or a little to slow, or that circled the block and came back.

Some people stationed in Japan make an effort to stay as long as possible, removed from gun violence and with the benefit of an overwhelming sense of safety. One former service member did just that, separating from the Marine Corps and moving back to Okinawa. Kenneth Franklin Gadson Shinzato, a contract employee on the Kadena Air Force Base, leveraged that incredible sense of safety possessed by Japanese women to kidnap and murder a young woman, abandoning her body in a suitcase.

My best resource in this case was the book Night in American Village: Women in the Shadow of the U.S. Military Bases in Okinawa. I also referenced articles covering the case from the NY Times, Stripes, LA Times, Marine Corps Times, XinhuaNet, Japan Times, Wikipedia, and Newsweek. For more information about Miranda v. Arizona, I’m linking the US Courts syllabus on the case. Last but certainly not least, I’m including a link to the LA Times with more information on the anti-slavery initiative that passed in Nevada and failed in California.

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050 TX v. Perry

Our cell phones bear witness to our insecurities, patiently returning search results for the things that spark in our brains that we need immediate answers to. Mine, if you were wondering, would tattle on me for my deep election anxiety. Army Sergeant Perry’s phone laid out a path to radicalization – winding around his interest in underage girls, past his view that Afghans weren’t people, and ending in the murder of a racial justice advocate.

I relied on three legal documents (1)(2)(3), and a variety of news sources: Army Times, Fox 7 (1)(2)(3), Texas Tribune, Wikipedia, Texas Monthly, BBC, KXAN, CNN, Reason.com, Military.com, and CBS Austin.

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049 US v. Smith

About this time two years ago, the weather in Virginia had just begun to shift from crisp to cold and I decided it was time to fill up my tires because the cold made the air inside sluggish. I first tried to plump them up at Costco, but I’m an early bird and I got there before hours and their pumps weren’t turned on. I knew that my impatience meant I’d have to pay to fill the tires, but set off for a gas station near my house anyway. When I got there, I was able to pull right into the spot next to the hose and hopped out to go get change to feed the machine. Then, a man who’d pulled up behind me laid on his horn. I looked up, startled by the noise, and he wagged his finger at me. I hadn’t darted ahead of him so I tried to figure out what sparked his ire. I held up my dollar bill then gestured towards the pump, trying to communicate that I just needed to make change. In response, he pulled a firearm and laid it on the dash. For that man and Airman First Class Smith, there’s just something about gas stations that calls for brandishing a firearm.

I used information from the AFCCA opinion, the CAAF opinion, and some appellate briefing.

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048 US v. Hirst

At work, I have a little white board where I can see at a glance where all of my projects are – it’s not entirely dissimilar to the surgery board in Grey’s Anatomy, except my projects are not life or death and don’t require nearly so much room. It’s color coded, and I’m acutely aware when any one task is hanging out longer than it should be. I think, given my work organizational skills, I’d be excellent at maintaining a chain of evidence. Fortunately, or unfortunately, for Gunnery Sergeant Hirst, his substance abuse control officer did not have any of the same skills.

I referenced three separate cases in this episode and am linking the appellate opinions for Hirst, Mendoza (ACCA)(CAAF), and Harvey (NMCCA)(CAAF). I also relied on a Stripes article about Hirst.

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047 US v. Helvey

I used to have this recurring nightmare about going into a restroom and instead of finding a stereotypical American toilet, I’d encounter the kind that required the user to squat over them. It didn’t occur to me until I wandered into a nature park restroom in Japan that the style of restroom was common in the areas my family traveled when I was very young, leaving the indelible mark on my developing brain. My restroom nightmare was objectively so silly and borne of unfamiliarity with that particular style of plumbing… I haven’t had the dream again after placing it in the right context. Where my trip to a random park bathroom in Japan cured me of a silly ignorant fear, Terry Helvey, a sailor, stalked a shipmate into park bathroom to commit a hate crime and set off decades of unrelenting nightmares for Allen Schindler’s surviving family members.

I referenced information from Wikipedia, the New York Times (1)(2)(3)(4), Chicago Tribune, Windy City Times, Washington Blade (1)(2)(3), Dallas Voice, Washington Post, LA Times, Georgetown Law, and the Justice Department.

This episode discusses crimes committed against a member of the LGBTQ community. If you are a member of the community seeking assistance or support, please reach out to any of the incredible organizations suggested by PFLAG.

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046 TX v. Murphy

I am a human who gets to the airport with as much lead time as possible to get through security, confirm my gate exists, and then try to be chill. I say try because I have no chill while traveling, I stress sweat and keep getting up to see if our plane has pulled up to our gate. I have the best of intentions with the most generous of timelines, and things still routinely go haywire.

One sailor, Marcus Murphy, had no such fears and forged ahead with a much leaner travel schedule, he had to be precise with his calculations. He carefully coordinated his drive to an out-of-state airport, flew with a family member, had a layover of only about four hours, and made it back to his return flight with time to spare. He wasn’t traveling with my kind of generous timeline, but more importantly, he wasn’t traveling with my best of intentions. He was traveling to commit a carefully timed murder.

I relied heavily on the Texas appellate opinion. I also referenced information from KWTX, Youtube, ABC 13, KHOU, KIRO7, Houston PD, WFTV, Family Abuse Center, The Guardian, Tulane, and the American College of Surgeons.

This episode discussed the most severe form of intimate partner violence. For more information on intimate partner violence, I urge you to explore Alliance For Hope and their Family Justice Center Alliance. If you need help finding shelter in your area, please visit DomesticShelters.org. Last, but not least, many law schools and courthouses offer free legal assistance for people seeking protective restraining orders.

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045 US v. Cook

When a job is wrapping up, it’s only natural to turn an eye to what comes next. Folks getting out of the military can speak with people trained in supporting servicemembers transitioning into civilian life and get one-on-one support with resume writing, job applications, and interview preparation. That route isn’t for everyone, and some people forge their own path into civilian life.

For Airman Cook, preparing for his administrative separation from the Air Force, that path looked like partnering up with one of his close friends in a transportation job. Instead of long-haul trucking or food slinging, the duo decided to get into human smuggling.

My main source was the AFCCA opinion.

I also relied on information from the NWF Daily News, Davis Monthan AF Base, Wikipedia (1)(2), World Vision, Rand, and the History Channel.

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