2005
United
States v. Scheurer, 62 M.J. 100 (Article 111, UCMJ, has been
expanded by
Congress to prohibit physically controlling, as well as operating, a
vehicle
while impaired by a controlled substance; the very purpose of the
legislation
is to remove impaired people from the driver’s seat; so unless the
government
proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused was in the driver’s
seat,
rather than the passenger seat, while impaired, the government has not
established an Article 111, UCMJ, offense).
(in this case, considering the
evidence
in the light most favorable to the government, a reasonable factfinder
could
not find beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant was in the driver’s
seat of
the car while he was impaired; a witness statement indicating that the
witness
was in the back seat and the accused and his wife were in the front
seat and
that was normal was legally insufficient to establish that the accused
was in
the driver’s seat).