NOTE: If convicted of only offenses committed on or after 28 December 2023, the judge shall sentence the accused in accordance with the sentencing parameters or criteria, as appropriate, or state reasons for deviating in writing. See RCM 925(c)(2), RCM 1002(a)(2), Appendices 12B (Parameter Table-Confinement Categories), 12C (Offense Category Chart), and 12D (List of Criteria Offenses), 2024 MCM.
a. MAXIMUM PUNISHMENT: DD, TF, 1 year, E-1. (Category 1)
b. SAMPLE SPECIFICATION:
In that __________ (personal jurisdiction data), did, (at/on board—location), on or about __________, wrongfully and willfully discharge a firearm, to wit: __________, (in the mess hall of __________) (__________), under circumstances such as to endanger human life.
c. ELEMENTS:
(1) That (state the time and place alleged), the accused discharged a firearm, to wit: (state the firearm alleged);
(2) That the discharge was willful and wrongful; and
(3) That the discharge was under circumstances such as to endanger human life.
d. DEFINITIONS AND OTHER INSTRUCTIONS:
An act is done “willfully” if it is done intentionally or on purpose.
“Wrongful” means without legal justification or excuse.
“Under circumstances such as to endanger human life” means that there must be a reasonable potentiality for harm to human beings in general. The test is not whether the life was in fact endangered but whether, considering the circumstances surrounding the wrongful discharge of the weapon, the act was unsafe to human life in general.