Articles Posted in Up Periscope

By regulation (the U.S. Navy Regulations and the Navy’s Standard Organization and Regulations Manual (SORM), OPNAVINST 3120.32x,), the Navy required personnel to report having been arrested or prosecutions for criminal acts by civilian authorities. In United States v. Serianne, 68 M.J.580 (N.M.Ct.Crim.App. 2009), aff’d, 69 M.J. 8 (C.A.A.F. 2010). the courts found the order unlawful,…

You are an enlisted person. 1. You are reduced at Art. 15 from E-6 to E-5, you retire as an E-5. What rank is your retirement check based on and how is it calculated. Assume you came on active duty after 1 September 1980. 2. You are reduced at special court-martial from E-9 to E-6,…

Senator Gillibrand is not happy. Here is one of her unsubstantiated complaints. I am quite sure that some of those committing sex offenses have done so before, and with predatory behavior. But casting the vast majority of he said/she said cases as predatory men assaulting angelic waifs who can’t care for themselves is sexist and…

Human lie detector’s not admissible, still, a strong circuit trend. This is consistent with military appellate case law. With expert testimony admitted on a wide range of issues under FRE 702, what limits are there to expert testimony on the credibility of the defendant? As noted by the Tenth Circuit, a consensus in disallowing this…

Congress continues to tinker, rather than take a complete overview and make rational change to the UCMJ – the politics continue. Meanwhile, we have to deal with the gruel they dish out. So, keep an eye on any changes to the statute of limitations for various sex related offenses. AND, keep an eye on any…

There appear to be ten fairly consistent reasons for a wrongful conviction, according to a NIJ researcher. In his series of pods Dr. Gould discusses the reasons (transcripts are available at the pod). I often, always, talk about confirmation bias in connection with military sexual assault investigations, through the 32, and through the referral process,…

Center for Prosecutor Integrity. The Center for Prosecutor Integrity is the nation’s only organization with a sole focus on enhancing prosecutorial ethics. The goals of the Center are to preserve the presumption of innocence, assure equal treatment under the law, and end wrongful convictions. CPI sponsors the Registry of Prosecutorial Misconduct, supports media efforts, and…

Congress, commanders, and others ignore the effects of false sexual assault allegations. They don’t fit the meme. They are quite willing and happy to ignore such happenings or possible happenings. 16-year-old commits suicide after being falsely branded a rapist by drug-dealing gang. A schoolboy hanged himself after he was falsely branded a rapist by fellow…

I’ve not heard the awesome power of de novo review discussed this way. On the basis of the entire record we cannot find that the court was wrong as a matter of law in finding an intention to desert. We are, however, by Article 66(c) of the Code privileged to say that we differ from…

Brother Bill sent me a link to this Onion piece. http://www.theonion.com/articles/partially-faded-hand-stamp-undermining-everything,30790/ It is a good teaching tool for those of us who go to court and actually try cases in front of members. I did a Marine case some years ago where the feedback was interesting. The members spent a lot of time looking at…