Richard B. Sunday, Appellant v. Paul J. Madigan, Warden, United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz, California, Appellee, 301 F.2d 871 (9th Cir. 1962)

This is an appeal from a district court order denying an application for a writ of habeas corpus. The appellant, Richard B. Sunday, is in federal custody at the United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz, California. He is there serving a sentence imposed on June 21, 1951, following his conviction in Korea by a general court-martial of a violation of Article 120 (rape), Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C., § 920.¹ 

On this appeal Sunday contends that: (1) Article 120 was not in effect in Korea, where the offense was committed, until 2:00 P.M., May 31, 1951, Korea standard time; (2) the general court-martial made no finding as to when the offense was committed and the Board of Review which found that the offense was committed after 2:00 P.M. on that day, was without authority to make findings of fact; (3) there was no substantial evidence to support the finding; and (4) the district court should have held a plenary hearing to permit appellant to testify as to the time of day the offense was committed.

On the afternoon of May 31, 1951, while Sunday was serving as a private first class in the United States Army in Korea, he raped a Korean woman. A general court-martial was convened at Hoengsong, Korea for the trial of Sunday and his accomplice. The two soldiers were charged with a violation of Article 120,²  and also a violation of Article of War 92 (rape), 10 U.S.C., § 1564 (1946 edition).

The reason the two soldiers were charged with the violation of both articles was that a doubt existed in the mind of the charging officer as to which was in effect in Korea at the time the offense was committed.

Section 5, Part B, of the Act of May 5, 1950, enacting the Uniform Code of Military Justice, of which Article 120 is a part, provided that it should become effective on the last day of the twelfth month after approval of the Act. The legislation was approved on May 5, 1950, thereby establishing the effective date to be May 31, 1951. If, under this provision, the Act became effective in Korea at midnight on the night of May 30-31, 1951, Korean standard time, it was concededly in effect when the offense was committed in Korea on the afternoon of May 31.

But if the Act did not become effective in Korea until it became effective in the United States, a determination as to the time of day the offense was committed becomes necessary. Korean time is fourteen hours faster than Eastern standard time, so that when May 31, 1951 began in Korea, it was only 10:00 A.M., May 30, 1951 in Washington, D. C. When May 31, 1951 began in Washington, D. C., it was already 2:00 P.M. on that day in Korea, Korean time.

If the offense was committed on or after 2:00 P.M. May 31, 1951, Korean standard time, there would be no problem concerning time since, even under appellant's theory, Article 120 was then in effect in Korea. But if the offense was committed before 2:00 P.M., Korean time, and the Act did not become effective in Korea until 2:00 P.M., Korean time, Article 120 of the Uniform Code would be ex post facto under Article I, section 9 of the Constitution as to that offense and the conviction could not stand.

In dealing with the problem the general court-martial did not attempt to fix the time of day the offense was committed, nor did it definitely decide what time of day, Korean time, Article 120 became effective in Korea. Instead, and in express recognition of its doubt as to the time the article became effective, the general court-martial found Sunday guilty, alternatively, under Article 120 or its predecessor, Article of War 92.³ 

In due course the matter came before the Board of Review in the office of the Judge Advocate General, pursuant to Article 66, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. § 866. That Board determined that the Uniform Code was in effect in Korea beginning at 12:00 midnight on the night of May 30-31, 1951, Korean standard time. The Board therefore held that Article 120 was in effect when the offense was committed without regard to whether the rape occurred before or after 2:00 P.M. Korean time. The Board concluded that the charge and specification under Article of War 92 were inappropriate, and the findings of guilty thereof were not correct in law. The findings of guilty under Article 120 were approved.⁴ 

The limited function of civil courts in habeas corpus proceedings involving military convictions is to determine whether the court-martial had jurisdiction of the person accused and the offense charged, and whether it acted within its lawful powers. Hiatt v. Brown, 339 U.S. 103, 110-111, 70 S. Ct. 495, 94 L. Ed. 691. This may include an inquiry as to whether the military have given fair consideration to each of the petitioner's claims. But once it has been concluded by the civil courts that the military had jurisdiction and dealt fully and fairly with all such claims, it is not open to such courts to grant the writ simply to re-evaluate the evidence. Burns v. Wilson, 346 U.S. 137, 73 S. Ct. 1045, 97 L. Ed. 1508.

If, as appellant contends, Article 120 of the Uniform Code was not in effect in Korea when the offense was committed, the general court-martial was without jurisdiction to try him for a violation of that article, and to convict him of such violation. Likewise, under these circumstances, the Board of Review was without jurisdiction to approve such conviction.⁵  It follows that at least the question of whether Article 120 of the Uniform Code was in effect in Korea beginning at midnight on the night of May 30-31, 1951, Korean standard time, may be inquired into in this habeas corpus proceeding.⁶ 

The enactment of May 5, 1950, contains no express provision indicating that the Uniform Code of Military Justice was to become effective outside the United States at 12:00 A.M. in each time zone on the day when, under the terms of the statute, the Act became effective. Nor is there any general or special statute establishing the rule in this regard with reference to the Uniform Code or any other statute having application throughout the world.

There is, however, a general statute which establishes the rule to be followed in this regard, insofar as application within the United States is concerned. This statute, 15 U.S.C.A. § 262, reads as follows:

"* * * In all statutes, orders, rules, and regulations relating to the time of performance of any act by any officer or department of the United States, whether in the legislative, executive, or judicial branches of the Government, or relating to the time within which any rights shall accrue or determine, or within which any act shall or shall not be performed by any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, it shall be understood and intended that the time shall be the United States standard time of the zone within which the act is to be performed."

In the absence of circumstances pointing to a different conclusion, this statute manifests a general congressional intent that zoned variations in time shall be observed in determining the time when statutory rights or liabilities accrue. While the statute is not applicable by its terms to time zones outside the United States, we perceive no reason why Congress should have a different intent with regard to extra-United States zones. With particular reference to the Uniform Code of Military Justice there are cogent reasons why Congress would want the same rule to apply world-wide.

At the time the Uniform Code of Military Justice was enacted in 1951, armed forces of the United States were stationed in all parts of the world. Practical considerations in implementing the notice requirements of the Uniform Code would be served by recognizing the respective time zones throughout the world as determinative with regard to acts committed within each such zone. As the trial court pointed out, persons resident in each zone can most readily determine the effective time of a statute, if fixed in terms of the time in that zone.

Appellant calls attention to the obvious fact that when May 31, 1951 began in Korea, it was still May 30, 1951 in the United States. He argues that it is unreasonable to assume that Congress intended the Uniform Code to be effective anywhere outside of the United States before it was effective within the United States. To avoid such a result, he advocates the rule that a statute of the United States becomes effective outside of the United States at the local standard time which exists at the moment the statute becomes effective in the District of Columbia. Thus the Uniform Code would become effective at 2:00 P.M. May 31, 1951, Korean standard time, because at that moment it was midnight on the night of May 30-31 in the District of Columbia.

But such a rule would only partially overcome what appellant regards as an anomalous situation. It is true that the effective time in Korea would then not precede the effective time in the District of Columbia, but it would still be three hours in advance of the effective time in San Francisco, and five hours in advance of the effective time in Alaska and Hawaii.⁷ 

This illustrates the fact that what appellant regards as an anomaly is but an unavoidable by-product of the circumstance that the international date line is located at the 180th meridian in the Pacific Ocean, rather than at the District of Columbia.⁸  It also demonstrates the futility of trying to overcome appellant's "anomaly" by framing a rule under which the application of a law outside of the United States is accelerated or deferred to conform to the time of application in the District of Columbia.

There are apparently no court decisions in the United States bearing upon this question. There is, however, a remarkably similar British case, Regina v. Logan (1957) 2 Q.B. 589.

In that case the appellants, who were British soldiers stationed at Hong Kong, were jointly charged with an assault, in violation of section 70 of the British Army Act, 1955. It was charged that the assault occurred at Hong Kong on January 1, 1957, at about 2:30 A.M., Hong Kong standard time. As Hong Kong time is eight hours in advance of English time, when it was 2:30 A.M. January 1, 1957 in Hong Kong it was only 6:30 P.M. on December 31, 1956 by English time. Since the Army Act, 1955 had not then come into operation in England, appellants argued that it was not then in effect in Hong Kong.

The court, speaking through Lord Goddard, C. J., rejected the contention, holding that if an Act is said to come into force on January 1, it comes into force on the day which is January 1 in the particular place where the Act is to be applied. The court held that it was immaterial that it became January 1 in Hong Kong a few hours before the clock actually showed January 1 in London.

We conclude that the Uniform Code of Military Justice became effective in Korea at midnight on the night of May 30-31, 1951, Korean standard time. Article 120 was therefore not applied ex post facto as to appellant, regardless of the time of day, Korean time, the offense was committed.⁹  The general court-martial therefore had jurisdiction to try appellant, and convict him, on a charge of violating Article 120 of that Code. The conclusion just stated makes it unnecessary to consider appellant's other contentions.

The judgment is affirmed.