Though not raised by Appellant, an error in the staff judge advocate’s recommendation (SJAR) compels us to remand the case for new post-trial processing. United States v. Spelts, Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals (May 2018). Now for this. The Government would be well-advised to find no solace in our resolution of this obvious error.…
Continue reading ›Friend DP notes a pending Supreme Court petition in Gamble v. United States. It looks like the case was supposed to have been presented at Thursdays conference. Issue: Whether the Supreme Court should overrule the “separate sovereigns” exception to the double jeopardy clause. If the court grants the petition and if the court rules in…
Continue reading ›Meet service members entrusted with guarding nuclear missiles that are among the most powerful in America’s arsenal. Air Force records obtained by The Associated Press show they bought, distributed and used the hallucinogen LSD and other mind-altering illegal drugs as part of a ring that operated undetected for months on a highly secure military base…
Continue reading ›Military personnel interviewed as a suspect by a MCIO are never told they are under arrest, but that’s the effect of the MCIO taking fingerprints, “mug-shots” and DNA. Once “arrested” you become titled and that information goes into the federal data base. Same if you are prosecuted, although the MCIO is supposed to update the…
Continue reading ›I’m having a problem with some appellate cases. The charges are referred, trial sessions are held, for one reason or another the charges are withdrawn, and then they come back. When the ROT is prepared the earlier hearings are not part of the ROT, why not? One of these days a CCA is going to…
Continue reading ›In United States v. Kelly, __ M.J. __, No.17-0559/AR the CAAF decides that a court of criminal appeals has the power to disapprove a mandatory minimum punitive discharge, reversing the published en banc (but non-unanimous) decision of the Army CCA. While Congress changed the law to impose a mandatory dishonorable discharge in some cases, they…
Continue reading ›Military personnel are told to believe the victim and consider the accused guilty unless, the quote from a former Air Force TJAG, there’s a silver bullet showing innocence. But what if the silver bullet isn’t available. Here the state trooper was saved by his bodycam from a false allegation. An attorney is apologizing for spreading…
Continue reading ›Spilman reports that: CAAF decided the Navy case of United States v. Andrews, __ M.J. __, No.17-0480/NA (CAAFlog case page) (link to slip op.), on Tuesday, May 22, 2018. Rejecting the Navy-Marine Corps Appellate Government Division’s argument that the failure to object to improper argument at trial waives any error on appeal, CAAF concludes that…
Continue reading ›On July 11, 2017 (79 FR 59938-59959), the JSC published a Notice of Proposed Amendments concerning procedure and evidence applicable in trials by court-martial, non-judicial punishment proceedings, and the punitive articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice as amended by the Military Justice Act of 2016, Division E of the National Defense Authorization Act…
Continue reading ›The NMCCA decided United States v. Kmiecik on 17 May 2018. Kmiecik challenges the military judge’s decision to admit “a signed acknowledgment from the appellant that he understood the Marine Corps’ policy concerning the illegal use of drugs[,]” during sentencing. For trial counsel and judges, and defense counsel. The military judge did not articulate his…
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