Articles Posted in Appeals

In United States v. Lopez, Army Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed, but there is no opinion on the Army court website and I don’t see it in Lexis. The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces has specified an issue for review in this case as follows: No. 16-0487/AR. U.S. v. Mario I. Lopez. CCA…

This article showed that the vast majority of court-martial sentences are affirmed by AFCCA. On the rare occasion when sentence relief was granted, it was usually not based on factual sufficiency or sentence appropriateness. While there has been some fluctuation in how often AFCCA grants sentence relief, it is minimal and to some extent explained…

The NMCCA has issued two significant opinions this week, one of which is worth the read while the United States prosecution of Bowe Bergdahl continues. United States v. Solis, __ M.J. ___ (N-M Ct. Crim. App. 2016). The case presents discussion of continuing issues relating to the nature of the proof and member (jury) instructions…

Is it an indecent exposure offense under UCMJ art. 120, to show someone a digital picture of your own genitals? In a published opinion in United States v. Williams, __ M.J. __, No. 20140401 (A. Ct. Crim. App. Mar. 30, 3016), the Army Court of Criminal Appeals split 2-1 in deciding the case. The court…

I came across a couple of Air Force opinions and have posted about habeas corpus and coram nobis. https://www.court-martial.com/habeas-coram.html

I have commented on this before–post-CAAF habeas corpus, but a new case from the 9th is time for a reminder. Narula v. Yakubisin (CO, NAVCONBRING Miramar), No. 15-55658 (9th Cir. 17 May 2016). It is common for the military appellant to think about federal court once their military appeal is complete. The route to federal…

Can the actions of military prosecutors raise the specter of Unlawful Command Influence? Maybe. That conclusion can at least can be gleaned from the case of United States v. Garcia, decided in 2015 by the Army Court of Criminal Appeals. (United States v. Garcia, No. 20130660, 2015 CCA LEXIS 335 (A. Ct. Crim. App. August…

On 30 November 2015, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Musacchio v. United States, a case of potential interest to military justice practitioners. There are two questions presented. (1) Whether the law-of-the-case doctrine requires the sufficiency of the evidence in a criminal case to be measured against the elements described in the jury instructions…

Bergdahl v. Burke. More information here.

It took how long?!%#@ Well, in United States v. Gonzalez, a Coast Guard general court-martial, the sentence was announced on 27 July 2011. The case did not get docketed with the CGCCA until 19 December 2014. That means a total of 1,241 days went by before the appellate court began a mandated review under UCMJ…