Court-Martial Trial Practice

I have previously posted on the current approach of NMCCA to Fosler cases that are being heard by them for initial review. So far there has not been an opinion in one of the trailer park remands. Still no “Fosler” out of Army or Air Force or Coast Guard, so no “split” in the “circuits”…

I found this case, pointed out by John Wesley Hall at fourthamendment.com to be of interest in light of the ongoing discussion regarding Article 120 and alcohol. As I’ve noted before, a lot of sexual assault awareness training teaches that a person who takes one drink “can’t consent” to sex. We all know that’s not…

Former Sergeant Major of the Army McKinney? wtop.com reports: Former Sgt. Maj. of the Army Gene McKinney will enter a plea, rather than stand trial for allegedly striking a slug passenger who demanded to be let out of McKinney’s car in Oct. 2010, WTOP has learned. Court records show McKinney will enter a plea in…

Army Times reports: A court-martialed U.S. soldier has been found not guilty by reason of lack of mental responsibility in the killing of a civilian contractor in Iraq. The Capital reports: A Naval Academy midshipman was found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting a classmate and lying to investigators during a court-martial at the Washington…

Monday kicks off opening arguments for the new SCOTUS term. Here is a listing of pending cases, culled from SCOTUSBlog, of criminal law cases that may have some relevance to military justice practitioners (non of them are military cases). Argument date | case number | case name | summary of QP. 10.04 10-63 Maples v.…

Professor Friedman has posted a link (via Westlaw) to a “nice opinion” on a case similar to Williams v. Illinois. Here is a more available link to Derr v. State (Maryland). Basically this is a surrogate expert witness at trial case. The Maryland court said: Derr challenges the admission of forensic evidence introduced at trial…

JDNews reports: In the wake of a high-profile hazing investigation involving a Marine suicide (in Afghanistan), a Camp Lejeune Marine is claiming he was falsely accused of a similar offense by a handful of junior troops. Here is a link to a CAAFLog post about the suicide of Lew. In a previous post on Lew:…

Here is a link to the new Military Commissions website. The Capital reports: A midshipman accused of raping a classmate in her Bancroft Hall dorm room testified Tuesday that the sex was consensual and that he initially lied to investigators because he feared being kicked out of the Naval Academy. Amanda Stairett of kcentv.com reports…

I have updated the list to indicate whether or not the appellant got a benefit on sentence as a result of the Fosler issue. United States v. Gibson, No. 201000669 (N.M.Ct.Crim.App., 30 Aug 2011) (convicted pursuant to pleas) – Affirmed, no sentence relief. United States v. Lonsford, No. 201100022 (N.M.Ct.Crim.App., 30 Aug 2011) (convicted contrary…

Military.com reports that: The Obama administration’s handpicked choice to run prosecutions at the Guantanamo war crimes court is pledging a new era of transparency from the remote base, complete with near simultaneous transmissions of the proceedings to victims and reporters on U.S. soil. Army Brig. Gen. Mark Martins made the disclosure in a profile published…