United States v. Cartright

The federal government (plaintiff) prosecuted Cartright (defendant), an Air Force enlisted man, for abusive sexual contact with a substantially incapacitated person. AL, a female airman, was sleeping over at Cartright's house with another airman, DL, after a night of heavy drinking. Cartright sexually molested AL several times while she slept, stopping whenever she woke and reassuring her when she asked what he was doing. AL told DL about the incidents the next morning, and word eventually reached her supervisor, who reported Cartright to investigators. At trial, the military judge rejected Cartright's proposed instruction that would have defined incapacitation as complete unawareness, instructing instead that sleep or intoxication could also incapacitate a person. The panel convicted Cartright, and he appealed.