The Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals recently released its decision in United States v. Cassaberry-Folks. Staff Sergeant Cassaberry Folks pled guilty to a number of offenses, including four specifications of assault consummated by a battery, extortion, forgery, and larceny. He was sentenced, in accordance with his plea agreement, to a bad conduct discharge, 18 months confinement, reduction to E-1, total forfeitures, and a reprimand. On appeal, the Staff Sergeant raised several matters, including the amount of credit he was given for pretrial confinement. SSgt Cassaberry-Folks had been placed in pretrial confinement at the Solano County Detention Center (SCDC) in Fairfield, California on 7 May 2021. He was placed in this civilian facility while he awaited trial at nearby Travis Air Force Base pursuant to a Memorandum of Understanding between the Air Force and Solano County to house military detainees in this civilian detention center. The SCDC automatically placed all military detainees into administrative separation in order to avoid the intermingling of military pretrial detainees with civilian post-trial prisoners. Administrative separation required the Staff Sergeant to spend 23 and 1/2 hours a day in solitary confinement. He was given only 30-45 minutes of recreation time a day. This recreation time was his only opportunity for personal hygiene, exercise, personal phone calls, or access to television and day room activities in an empty common area when no other prisoners were present. Non-administrative separation prisoners were given 1-2 hours of recreation time each day. SSgt Cassaberry-Folks’ defense counsel asked for him to be moved to a military confinement facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base. Despite the Special Court-Martial Convening Authority’s endorsement of the request, the Air Force Security Forces Center, Confinement and Corrections Directorate denied the request. SSgt Cassaberry-Folks spent 293 days in this facility before his court-martial convened. Some portion of this time was spent in a medical unit, but he spent 129 days in administrative separation.
All accused servicemembers who are placed into pretrial confinement receive credit towards their sentence on a day-for-day basis. SSgt Cassaberry-Folks received 293 days credit towards his sentence based just on having been in pretrial confinement. At trial, the defense sought additional credit towards his sentence for his pretrial confinement in an Article 13, UCMJ, motion. Article 13, UCMJ, states that “[n]o person, while being held for trial, may be subjected to punishment or penalty other than arrest or confinement upon the charges pending against him, nor shall arrest or confinement imposed upon him be any more rigorous than the circumstances require to insure his presence [at trial]…” When a detainee is placed into maximum security or solitary confinement, courts examine whether that classification was made purely because of the charges or if the confinement facility made a reasonable evaluation of the facts and circumstances of the case. If a court determines that the placement into an elevated security classification was arbitrary, unnecessary to ensure the detainee’s presence at trial, or unrelated to security concerns they will consider appropriate credit or other relief. Despite a statement from the civilian facility’s commander acknowledging that all military detainees were automatically placed into administrative separation with no consideration of the facts and circumstances of their case, the military judge granted no relief under Article 13, UCMJ. He credited the Staff Sergeant with just the 293 days of one-for-one pretrial confinement.
On appeal, the Air Force appellate court found that the military judge had erred. While the military judge correctly found that the SCDC had no intent to punish SSgt Cassaberry-Folks when it placed him in administrative separation, the classification still created conditions that were more rigorous than necessary to ensure his presence at trial. The Court awarded him an additional 129 days of credit against his sentence to confinement. Although he had already served his entire term of confinement before the opinion was released, this awarding of credit should provide SSgt Cassaberry-Folks with additional pay for the days credited. The appellate court also found a violation of his due process rights when the Air Force took almost 14 months to produce his record of trial and provide it to the appellate court. The Court disapproved the remainder of the confinement and forfeitures as relief for this violation, providing the Staff Sergeant even more back pay.
If you or your loved one want to appeal a court-martial, you need someone with experience who knows what arguments to make on your behalf, and when to make them. I have argued this issue, and numerous others in front of appellate courts and CAAF. I have the experience you need. Please call Bill Cassara at (706) 860-5769 for a free consultation.