Articles Posted in Sex Offenses

No. 19-0051/AR. U.S. v. Korey B. Kangich. CCA 20170170. On consideration of the granted issue, 78 M.J. 304 (C.A.A.F. 2019), the judgment of the United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals, United States v. Kangich, No. 20170170 (A. Ct. Crim. App. Sep 27, 2018) (unpublished), and the opinion of this Court in United States v.…

Prof. Doug Berman of Sentencing Law & Policy brings this tidbit about SOR in Alaska. [T]he Alaska Supreme Court in Doe v. Alaska Department of Public Safety, No. 7375 (Alaska June 14, 2019) decided that part of its state’s Sexual Offender Registration Act violates due process. Here is how the majority opinion starts and concludes:…

Thanks to Prof. Berman at Sentencing Law 7 Policy who directs us to Murray, Brian, Are Collateral Consequences Deserved? (January 29, 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract= I have a standard sex offender registration motion that I use in all cases in which a sex offense is charged and if convicted the client will have to…

The answer is possibly, but it requires some very specific analysis using the Reynolds test. The Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals has decided United States v. Hyppolite, II, where this issue arose. In this case, the prosecution sought to use evidence of different allegations of a sexual offense to show that, “Appellant’s conduct admitted…

11 October 2018. Orders Granting Petition for Review No. 18-0339/AF. U.S. v. Scott A. Meakin. CCA 38968. On consideration of the petition for grant of review of the decision of the United States Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals, it is ordered that said petition is hereby granted on the following issue: WHETHER APPELLANT’S CONVICTION…

As for SPC KP [a witness to the alleged MSA], our doubts about her testimony are many. First, several witnesses shared their low opinion of SPC KP’s character for truthfulness, as well as SPC KP’s low reputation within the unit on this important trait. Second, SPC KP had a motive to fabricate, as the trauma…

Comment on Carissa Byrne Hessick, The Expansion of CP Law. 21 NEW CRIM. L. REV. (coming soon). As military defense counsel, we have had to deal with and address the “expansion” of CP into what is often referred to as erotica. Ms. Hessick notes an expansion of CP law to cover possessing images of children…

Once the MCIO gets a “confession” or DNA in a sexual assault case, it seems, they stop investigating–bad. Whether you have DNA or not–whether you are trial counsel or defense counsel–gathering non-DNA evidence can be vital to your case. Complaining witness says she and accused were at a bar drinking and the accused later took…

I always tell clients that the specific sex offender registration requirements are complicated and depend on state law. Here’s a reason why. In New York a defendant can be forced to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life based on accusations a jury rejected. So the state’s highest court ruled last…

I have argued for some time that sex offender registration is punitive not merely collateral to a conviction. This morning, the US Supreme Court granted cert in Gundy v. US to consider whether Congress’s delegation to the attorney general the power to issue regulations interpreting the federal Sex Offender Notification and Registration Act violates the…