Court Opinion

ID: 9949172
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-08 23:00:55.313965+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:28:39.172240
License: Public Domain

U NITED S TATES A IR F ORCE
              C OURT OF C RIMINAL APPEALS
                            ________________________

                                 No. ACM 40360
                            ________________________

                               UNITED STATES
                                   Appellee
                                          v.
                        Matthew R. DENNEY
             Master Sergeant (E-7), U.S. Air Force, Appellant
                            ________________________

        Appeal from the United States Air Force Trial Judiciary 1
                             Decided 8 March 2024
                            ________________________

Military Judge: Dayle P. Percle.
Sentence: Sentence adjudged 7 July 2022 by GCM convened at Shaw Air
Force Base, South Carolina. Sentence entered by military judge on 22
August 2022: confinement for 12 months and reduction to E-4.
For Appellant: Major Matthew L. Blyth, USAF.
For Appellee: Colonel Steven R. Kaufman, USAF; Lieutenant Colonel J.
Peter Ferrell, USAF; Major Olivia B. Hoff, USAF; Mary Ellen Payne,
Esquire.
Before RICHARDSON, DOUGLAS, and WARREN, Appellate Military
Judges.
                            ________________________

    This is an unpublished opinion and, as such, does not serve as
    precedent under AFCCA Rule of Practice and Procedure 30.4.
                       ________________________

1 Appellant appeals his conviction under Article 66(b)(1)(A), Uniform Code of Military

Justice (UCMJ), 10 U.S.C. § 866(b)(1)(A), Manual for Courts-Martial, United States
(2019 ed.) (2019 MCM), having been sentenced to more than six months’ confinement.
                     United States v. Denney, No. ACM 40360

PER CURIAM:
    A military judge sitting as a general court-martial convicted Appellant, in
accordance with his pleas and pursuant to a plea agreement, of one specifica-
tion of distribution of child pornography in violation of Article 134, Uniform of
Code Military Justice (UCMJ), 10 U.S.C. § 934.2 After accepting Appellant’s
plea, the military judge sentenced Appellant to confinement for 12 months,
reduction to the grade of E-4, and a reprimand. The convening authority dis-
approved the reprimand and, in accordance with the plea agreement, waived
automatic forfeitures for six months.
    Appellant raises one issue: whether as applied to this case, reference to 18
U.S.C. § 922 in the staff judge advocate’s indorsement to the entry of judgment
is unconstitutional because the Government cannot demonstrate that barring
his possession of firearms is “consistent with the nation’s historical tradition
of firearm regulation”3 when he stands convicted of distribution of child por-
nography. We have carefully considered this issue, and find no discussion or
relief is warranted. See United States v. Guinn, 81 M.J. 195, 204 (C.A.A.F.
2021) (citing United States v. Matias, 25 M.J. 356 (C.M.A. 1987)).
   The findings and sentence as entered are correct in law and fact, and no
error materially prejudicial to Appellant’s substantial rights occurred. Articles
59(a) and 66(d), UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. §§ 859(a), 866(d). Accordingly, the findings
and sentence are AFFIRMED.

                       FOR THE COURT

                       CAROL K. JOYCE
                       Clerk of the Court

2 All references to the UCMJ are to the 2019 MCM.

3 Citing N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, 142 S. Ct. 2111, 2130 (2022).

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