Court-Martial Trial Practice

Navy Times reports more firings. The commanding officer and executive officer of a Norfolk, Va.-based amphibious ship were fired Saturday while the ship was on deployment in the Mediterranean, according to an announcement posted on the Navy’s website. Cmdr. Etta Jones, CO of the amphibious transport dock Ponce, was fired “due to demonstrated poor leadership,…

NMCCA has decided United States v. Davenport. This is another case alleging IAC for failing to advise of a SOR issue. However, for me there’s another point in the case. The petitioner also alleged he was told his conviction at Special court-martial was not a felony. I have heard a special being referred to as…

Navy Times reports that: The former executive officer of a Mayport, Fla.-based cruiser is being court-martialed for alleged sexual assault, assault and sexual harassment, a Navy spokesman said Friday. AP reports that SPC Wagnon, one of the Stryker Brigade accuseds is being released from pretrial confinement. The Republic reports that: LTC Lakin’s findings and sentence…

David H. Kwasniewski, NOTE: Confrontation Clause Violations as Structural Defects, 96 CORNELL L. REV. 397 (2011). The writer argues that some Crawford violations should be treated as structural defects in the trial and not subject to the Van Arsdell harmless error analysis.

Fayobserver reports: A federal appeals court has sided with convicted killer Jeffrey MacDonald, ordering a second review of his claims of newly discovered evidence. MacDonald, a former Army surgeon at Fort Bragg who is serving three life sentences for killing his pregnant wife and their 5-year-old and 2-year-old daughters in 1970, is seeking relief based…

Navy Times reports the relief of the CO, Naval Station, Rota, Spain. He is the seventh commanding officer fired this year, and the fifth aviator. AP reports rumors that Bradley Manning will be moved to Leavenworth. While in some ways this may be good, he will now be separated from both his military as well…

Prof. Colin Miller has a timely and excellent discussion of eyewitness identification issues.

WHTM ABC 27 reports: A hearing will be held at the U.S. Naval Academy to determine whether a midshipman will be court-martialed. Patrick Edmond is accused of raping a female midshipman in October in the school’s dormitory. Following an investigation by the Naval Criminal Intelligence Service, he was charged last month with rape and issuing…

“SO VAST AN AREA OF LEGAL IRRESPONSIBILITY”? THE SUPERIOR ORDERS DEFENSE AND GOOD FAITH RELIANCE ON ADVICE OF COUNSEL, Mark W.S. Hobel, 111 COLUMBIA L. REV. 574 (2011). This Note argues that the modern superior orders defense represents the most relevant and just paradigm for assessing the potential criminal liability of U.S. interrogators who claim…

I came across a case that had this interesting piece in it while discussing some IAC claims. A defendant’s constitutional right to testify in his own behalf is implicit in the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments. Rock v. Arkansas, 483 U.S. 44, 51-53 (1987). However, “[w]hether the defendant is to testify is an important tactical…