Court-Martial Trial Practice

When are statements made by a prosecutor admissible at trial. And assuming you can establish relevance and get past Mil. R. Evid. 403, under what rule. How about Mil. R. Evid. 801 as admissions of a party-opponent. You think I jest. Check out United States v. Bakshinian, 65 F. Supp. 2d 1104 (DC S.D. Ca.…

North County Times reports: All defense appeals in the case of a Camp Pendleton Marine accused of manslaughter in the deaths of nine Iraqis have been exhausted and his trial date has been set. Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich is scheduled to go on trial at the base on Jan. 4. The Judge’s Bench, from Grand…

Thanks to Mary Hall for pointing to Litigation Insights. I have linked to their “newsletters.” I have frequently commented on a number of issue relevant to members and how they should be treated, perceived, and educated, and how they may be influenced by non-verbal cues. As some know I have some rules of engagement for…

The Cape-Coral Daily Breeze reports: Pvt. 1st Class Andrew H. Holmes of Boise, Idaho, pleaded guilty to murder and wrongfully using a controlled substance on Sept. 22 in a plea agreement with prosecutors, according to Maj. Chris Ophardt at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington. The following day, the judge sentenced Holmes to 15 years…

PV2 Brandon G. Rushing? The military connection: Some years ago, he plead guilty to, carnal knowledge and indecent acts with a child, in violation of Articles 120 and 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. §§ 920 and 934 [hereinafter UCMJ]. The judge sentenced appellant to a bad-conduct discharge, confinement for eleven months, forfeiture…

From time to time counsel want to offer documents which have objectionable information in them. There is an objection, and as often happens the court encourages or orders the objectionable parts be redacted. My here pointer relates to how the redaction is done – it must be done carefully. I was reminded of this general…

Navy Times reports: Angry that he was not invited to a group dinner, the commander of a Navy flight squadron hurled insults at subordinates and slapped another sailor several times while they were all drinking at a bar in Bahrain, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. Stars & Stripes reports that: The U.S.…

CAAF Daily Journal for 4 October has this entry in regard to the oral arguments scheduled for next week. In view of the existence of a vacant position on the Court, notice is hereby given that the Chief Judge has called upon Senior Judge Andrew S. Effron to perform judicial duties in the above cases,…

No, I didn’t say that, LTG Mark P. Hertling, USA, Commander U. S. Army Europe did, as reported in Army Times. (He’s also been talking about troop strength in Europe.) Soldier discipline has deteriorated to the point where it risks becoming “cancerous,” a senior Army general said Wednesday. In his remarks he said: “If we…

Sun Herald reports: A chief warrant officer who lead Coast Guard Station Gulfport until last year may be ousted from military service after being convicted on an array of charges in court martial proceedings. Chief Warrant Officer Brandt Martin was removed from the helm at Gulfport in July 2010 while an investigation into his activities…