Court-Martial Trial Practice

The NMCCA has issued an unpublished opinion in United States v. Belcher. This case has lessons for the defense and the prosecution. It appears the defense offered a PTA for nine months and included offers to testify against co-conspirators. The PTAO languished. Then, “a second trial counsel contacted the appellant’s defense counsel because he was…

Here, from Prof. Berman TG at Sentencing Law & Policy is a reminder about evidence in CP cases. I think most of us already do this, and a number of prosecutors already think of this. A notable Third Circuit panel ruling today in US v. Cunningham, No. 10-4021 (3d Cir. Sept. 18, 2012) (avalable here),…

Estimating Gender Disparities in Federal Criminal Cases Sonja B. Starr University of Michigan Law School August 29, 2012 University of Michigan Law and Economics Research Paper Abstract: This paper assesses gender disparities in federal criminal cases. It finds large gender gaps favoring women throughout the sentence length distribution (averaging over 60%), conditional on arrest offense,…

And is it possible there may be no easy nights? 1. Is he a retiree, and thus potentially subject to recall for the purpose of prosecution under the UCMJ. Here is a Mil. L. Rev. article on Article 2(a)(4) and (6), UCMJ (2102), and check out the following: Person v. Bloss, 28 M.J. 376 (C.M.A.…

In all of the political and policy discourse about sexual assaults little if any attention is given to sexual assaults committed by women, usually on men. Here is an interesting article about the “discussion” about prison sexual assault. Can the same be said for non prison sexual assault views. Engendering Rape Kim Shayo Buchanan* 59…

I was thinking this morning about issues that a trial defense counsel ought to be aware of and/or know about for appeals. This evening I got a VACLE “tip,” entitled, Did You Know? What’s the most common reason arguments on appeal are not heard on the merits? The following was included. Proffer excluded testimony and…

Several items of interest. Army Times reports: The first female soldier to flee the U.S. military for Canada to avoid the war in Iraq has been ordered deported, a spokeswoman for the War Resisters Support Campaign said Thursday. On the home grown terrorism front Air Force Times reports: Georgia prosecutors will seek the death penalty…

h/t Prof. Berman. http://sentencing.typepad.com/sentencing_law_and_policy/2012/08/what-should-a-registered-sex-offender-do-when-running-from-a-hurricane.html

Result – statements suppressed, and will be in the 9th because of Sessoms v. Runnels, No. 08-17790, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 17206 (9th Cir. 2012) Wow. What about Davis v. United States? Davis doesn’t apply because the ambiguous request came BEFORE the accused was advised of his Miranda rights. So, why isn’t there a similar…

Federalevidence.com has this piece on about juries and social media, and a discussion of the model jury instruction. They also link to an interesting 22 November 2011 Federal Judicial Center report . The use of social media by jurors during trials and deliberations is not a common occurrence. Of the 508 judges who responded to…