United States v. Guilford
United States Army Court of Criminal Review
8 M.J. 598 (1979)
- Written by Angela Patrick, JD
Facts
Army Private First Class Carlo Guilford (defendant) was tried by a court-martial with seven members on the panel. For Guilford to be convicted, only two-thirds of the court-martial panel, i.e., five members, needed to find him guilty. Guilford was convicted. On appeal, Guilford argued that having a trial in which he could be convicted by only five people violated his Fifth Amendment right to due process and his Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial. Guilford relied on two recent United States Supreme Court cases. Under these cases, a civilian defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to a fair and impartial jury was violated if (1) the jury contained fewer than six people or (2) the jury had only six people and the defendant could be convicted by less than a unanimous vote of all six jurors.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Fulton, J.)
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