United States v. Quintanilla

60 M.J. 852 (2005)

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United States v. Quintanilla

United States Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals
60 M.J. 852 (2005)

Facts

Sergeant Jesse A. Quintanilla (defendant) shot his commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas A. Heffner, and his executive officer, Lieutenant Colonel Daniel W. Kidd. Kidd was killed, and Heffner was seriously injured. Quintanilla was convicted of several charges, including premeditated murder, and was sentenced to death. The prosecutors at Quintanilla’s court-martial engaged in four separate instances of prosecutorial misconduct. First, after the Article 32 hearing in the matter, assistant prosecutor Major G.P. Glazier engaged in an ex parte conversation with the investigating officer, but there was no evidence that the conversation affected the officer’s findings or recommendations. Second, at a pretrial hearing on a motion to dismiss, the prosecutor, Captain C.E. Feldman, testified as a witness and subsequently argued the motion, commenting on his own testimony. Third, during his sentencing argument, Glazier referred to Quintanilla as a “gangbanging, murdering animal” and a “bad hombre.” Quintanilla’s attorney objected, and the military judge instructed the panel to disregard the inflammatory language. Fourth, after the court-martial concluded, Glazier and Feldman took several items of evidence, giving some of the items to the victims and keeping some of the items for themselves. On appeal, Quintanilla requested that his conviction and sentence be set aside due to prosecutorial misconduct.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Price, J.)

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