Captain Milott has an interesting article about the use and interpretation of emojis and emoticons in criminal trials when they are part of a text, email, or some other social media message. Many sexual assault courts-martial involve texts and emails between the complaining witness and a suspect–is there a damaging admission, a confession, or something…
Continue reading ›Lagano, et al, The Air Force SVC Program: The First Five Years, 44(3) The Reporter 31 (2017). We begin by examining the creation of the SVC program within the Air Force, the expansion of victims’ counsel programs throughout the Department of Defense (DoD), and the growing list of victims’ rights. In the second part of…
Continue reading ›The number of exonerations involving wrongdoing by police, prosecutors and other government workers set a record last year, according to a report released on Wednesday. The findings are part of a larger trend that reflects America’s more aggressive attempts to expose and understand the causes of wrongful convictions. The new statistics, released by the National…
Continue reading ›Here’s an interesting timeline I came across when reading about the different reasons people lie about sexual assault. International Timeline
Continue reading ›In general, motive can be described as an inward emotion, passion, or feeling in a person which “is likely to lead” that person to do an “appropriate act” as “an outlet” for this emotion. See J. Wigmore, A Treatise on the Anglo-American System of Evidence in Trials at Common Law § 117 (3d ed. 1940)…
Continue reading ›If you have been falsely accused of a sexual offense you are not alone. I agree and understand that does not make your time in the hot seat happy, comfortable, or certain the truth will out. Here is an article about sexual offense investigation and prosecution in the U.K. U.S. service members will see similarities–sadly.…
Continue reading ›Some may remember United States v. Denedo, where the appellant won at the Supreme Court, but then his appellate lawyer failed to file a petition to CAAF in time–out of court, done, no relief. So here’s an interesting Coast Guard case–United States v. Reese III. Reese filed a petition for a writ of coram nobis.…
Continue reading ›Why Facts Don’t Change Our Minds This is an interesting read on what I usually refer to as confirmation bias.
Continue reading ›Go to Army publications After a lengthy absence from the general public, the following are now, again, available to the public. (ACCA decisions are still not available. Army Lawyer. See, Lore of Corps, Special Edition, here. There is an interesting short piece on “Command Influence ‘Back in the Day.’ Consequently, The Adjutant General wrote that…
Continue reading ›A year ago an O-4 client was accused of various physical assaults on his son over an eight-year period. He faced two charges with a total of 10 specifications. Prior to trial we were able to identify very helpful information about the credibility of the allegations, despite there being medical evidence and prosecution expert testimony.…
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