There are a number of ways denial of counsel of choice can come up, most frequently related to the availability of civilian counsel. Here’s an interesting one. United States v. Gonzalez-Lopez, 548 U.S. 140 (2006). The opinion is written by Justice Scalia. Here are the important part of the opinion: In sum, the right at…
Continue reading ›United States v. Cowgill. WHETHER THE MILITARY JUDGE ABUSED HER DISCRETION IN DENYING THE DEFENSE MOTION TO SUPPRESS ALL EVIDENCE FROM APPELLANT’S HOME. The two underlying point were: potential erroneous information given for a search warrant (statements were factually incorrect, but believed to be true by the detective at the time), and if there was…
Continue reading ›On habeas review of state court convictions, the detective’s trial testimony about the statements of two non-testifying co-actors which implicated the defendant in the shooting and which were used to confront the defendant during his interview violated the Confrontation Clause and constituted plain error, in Ray v. Boatwright, _ F.3d _ (No. 08-2825). Since Crawford…
Continue reading ›The Temple Daily Telegraph reports that: Defense attorney John Galligan said Friday that accused Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan could be back in Bell County as early as Monday. Hasan was notified Thursday that the therapy he was receiving at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio was officially finished. He has been under…
Continue reading ›CAAF has issued an opinion in United States v. Bradford, a government appeal of a pretrial ruling. The appeal was on a military judge declination to pre-admit a Lab Package in a urinalysis case. AFCCA had no trouble saying that a declination to pre-admit evidence is appealable. CAAF had no trouble correctly saying that AFCCA…
Continue reading ›The Article 32, UCMJ, hearing has been rescheduled for 1 June 2010. KWTC.com reports.
Continue reading ›The court has decided Maryland v. Shatzer (background documents on SCOTUSWiki here ) and also Florida v. Powell (background documents on SCOTUSWiki here). Both cases relate to “Miranda” rights and confessions. In Powell, the issue was how much detail must go into a “Miranda” warning in order to be sufficient, in Shatzer the court addresses…
Continue reading ›Is a false marriage certificate to claim otherwise unauthorized allowances an official document? No, it would be the presentation of that document as showing an entitlement that is the false statement, not the marriage certificate itself. The court also found the appellant’s plea to a conspiracy to commit a false official statement as improvident. The…
Continue reading ›In United States v. Willis, No. ARMY 20071339, which is being argued on Thursday, the issue is: “WHETHER THE PROSECUTION AGAINST APPELLANT WAS BARRED BY A GRANT OF DE FACTO IMMUNITY WHEN THE GOVERNMENT AGREED TO DISMISS CHARGES IF APPELLANT PASSED A POLYGRAPH EXAMINATION AND APPELLANT PASSED A POLYGRAPH EXAMINATION.” h/tip CAAFLog.
Continue reading ›Fort Hood and the Bell County Sheriff’s Office are in discussions to transfer Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the man accused of killing 13 and wounding 32 others during a Nov. 5 shooting at Fort Hood, from the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio to Bell County Jail. Reports kdhnews.com John Galligan, attorney for Nidal…
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