Court-Martial Trial Practice

Civilian counsel don’t always get paid by the client. Rather, it oftentimes can be the parents or a family member. Technology and other innovations have brought us crowdfunding and organizations set up to help defray legal fees for a court-martial accused. I recently participated in a Zoom discussion about this topic and its ethical concerns.

With the Trump pardons, the question came up, again, whether accepting a Presidential pardon is an acknowledgment of guilt. For many, Burdick v. United States, 236 U.S. 79 (1925), answered the question in the affirmative. In Burdick, the appellant was offered but declined a pardon. He then refused to testify in a criminal trial. Several…

For your reading. R. Michael Cassidy, Character, Credibility and Rape Shield Rules. RESEARCH PAPER 542, Boston College Law School, October 8, 2020. Cassidy’s introduction notes the attention sexual assaults have received over recent years in reference to Harvey Weinstein, Justice Kavanaugh, and even then VP Biden. He goes on to say that, “It is a…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB5SXp95b-c

“Thinking about bringing marijuana on base? Weed rather you didn’t,” the Naval Submarine Base posted on Facebook on July 1, the day possession of marijuana became legal in Connecticut. “State law legalizing possession of marijuana doesn’t apply to military installations.” A few weeks later, the sub base posted a graphic with the message, “We’re going…

A servicemember can refuse to take a COVID vaccine–BUT there are potential disciplinary consequences. Military law is clear that a servicemember can be ordered to submit to vaccinations. This happens at the beginning of enlistment when you are required to have or get certain vaccinations. This is a long-standing practice when reporting to MEPS for…

We all have clients who have been ordered to enter their passwords to their cellphone so the investigators can forensically examine the phone. As military defense counsel we frequently have these issues come up. In 2018 there were an estimated 396 million smartphones and cellphone accounts nationwide. Carpenter v. United States, 585 U.S. ___, 138…

We all have clients anxious to know their SOR status post-conviction. We are required to, at minimum, advise them of the DoD regulation when there is a guilty plea for charges which might require registration. But clients are never satisfied. Here is one case that might have some relevance to registrant’s in South Carolina. The…

There was a time when having adverse information in a restricted folder in the official record meant something in terms of lasting effect of that information. Over time that changed if the officer was selected for promotion. A post-selection screen was then made of everything before forwarding the officer’s name for promotion. Now, Army officer…

What, if anything, can you as military defense counsel do if you suspect some shenanigans during panel member deliberations? Military Rule of Evidence 606 states the basic rule against questioning the panel members during or after the trial about what went on during deliberations. Prohibited Testimony or Other Evidence. During an inquiry into the validity…