Opinion ID: 2221498
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: analysis

Text: Hernandez did not dispute at sentencing, nor does he dispute on appeal, that he was convicted of a violation of article 125 of the UCMJ in 1987. Hernandez, however, argues that article 125 does not contain essentially the same elements as § 28-319 because the military offense of sodomy proscribes some conduct or additional behavior that would not be criminally proscribed under § 28-319. As explained more fully below, Hernandez misperceives the critical inquiry that courts are required to make under the sentencing enhancement provisions of § 28-319(3). Section 28-319 provides, in pertinent part: (1) Any person who subjects another person to sexual penetration (a) without consent of the victim, or (b) who knew or should have known that the victim was mentally or physically incapable of resisting or appraising the nature of his or her conduct, or (c) when the actor is nineteen years of age or older and the victim is less than sixteen years of age is guilty of sexual assault in the first degree. .... [Note: Neb.Rev.Stat. § 28-318(6) (Reissue 1995) defines sexual penetration as sexual intercourse in its ordinary meaning, cunnilingus, fellatio, anal intercourse, or any intrusion, however slight, of any part of the actor's or victim's body or any object manipulated by the actor into the genital or anal openings of the victim's body which can be reasonably construed as being for nonmedical or nonhealth purposes. Sexual penetration shall not require emission of semen.] (3) Any person who is found guilty of sexual assault in the first degree for a second time when the first conviction was pursuant to this section or any other state or federal law with essentially the same elements as this section shall be sentenced to not less than twenty-five years and shall not be eligible for parole. (Emphasis supplied.) In 1993, the Legislature added the italicized language to § 28-319(3) for the express purpose of clarifying that a prior conviction from another jurisdiction could be utilized to enhance the penalty for a subsequent sexual assault offense so long as the prior conviction was pursuant to a state or federal law with essentially the same elements as § 28-319. See Judiciary Committee Statement, L.B. 430, 93d Leg., 1st Sess. 1591-92 (Feb. 3, 1993). Thus, the critical inquiry is not whether a sexual assault statute from a sister state or federal jurisdiction incorporates exactly the same elements as § 28-319. Rather, the relevant inquiry is whether the offense for which a defendant was previously convicted and sentenced includes essentially the same elements as an offense punishable under § 28-319. Therefore, we must examine the language of article 125 of the UCMJ to ascertain whether it contains essentially the same elements as § 28-319, such that Hernandez' court-martial conviction under article 125 could be used to enhance his sentence pursuant to § 28-319(3). We note that the United States Code contains the UCMJ, and thus, Hernandez' conviction was a conviction under federal law. Article 125 provides: (a) Any person subject to this chapter who engages in unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy. Penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the offense. (b) Any person found guilty of sodomy shall be punished as a court-martial may direct. 10 U.S.C. § 925 (1994). The offense of sodomy is further clarified in the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (MCM), which has the force and effect of law. See Noyd v. Bond, 395 U.S. 683, 692, 89 S.Ct. 1876, 23 L.Ed.2d 631 (1969) (noting that MCM has force and effect of law unless it is `contrary to or inconsistent with' the Uniform Code Congress has enacted). See, also, 53A Am.Jur.2d Military and Civil Defense § 297 (1996 & Cum.Supp. 2000). The MCM repeats the text of article 125, then lists the following as elements of the offense of sodomy: (a) That the accused engaged in unnatural carnal copulation with a certain other person or with an animal. [Note: add either or both of the following elements, if applicable] (b) That the act was done with a child under the age of 16 (c) That the act was done by force and without the consent of the other person. (Emphasis supplied.) Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, ¶ 51, art. 125 (1984). Exhibits 9 and 11 reveal that subsection (b) applied to Hernandez' 1987 court-martial conviction, as he was charged and convicted of sodomy with a child under the age of 16. A comparison of § 28-319 and article 125, as applied in Hernandez' court-martial conviction, reveals that both contain essentially the same elements. Both require penetration, and § 28-319, pursuant to § 28-318(6), defines penetration such that an act of sodomy is included within its purview. Section 28-319 prohibits sexual penetration when the victim does not consent or could not consent because of mental or physical incapabilities or age. Similarly, article 125, as clarified in the MCM, prohibits sexual penetration when the victim does not consent or could not consent because of age. As noted previously, this consent element was applied in Hernandez' court-martial conviction, as he was charged and convicted of sodomy with a child under the age of 16. Therefore, the particular sodomy offense for which Hernandez was previously convicted and sentenced under article 125, as further clarified in the MCM, includes essentially the same elements of the offense for which Hernandez stands convicted under § 28-319. This is precisely the type of circumstance that the Legislature considered when it amended § 28-319(3) to clarify that a prior conviction from another jurisdiction could be utilized to enhance the penalty for a subsequent sexual assault offense so long as the conviction was pursuant to a state or federal law with essentially the same elements as § 28-319. We conclude that the district court appropriately used Hernandez' court-martial conviction under article 125 to enhance his penalty for first degree sexual assault, pursuant to § 28-319(3).