Court-Martial Trial Practice

“Now what I want is, Facts.. . . Stick to Facts Sir!” (Charles Dickens, Hard Times, p. 1, Oxford World’s Classics, 1998.) Evidence may be admissible under Mil. R. Evid. 803(8) as an exception to the hearsay rule. Prof. Colin Miller reminds us that the exception is intended to cover recorded facts, not opinions.

AP reports: Two women testified at a military hearing Tuesday that they would not have had sex with an airman had they known he was HIV positive, and one said she believed him when he said he wasn’t because he was in the Air Force. Professor Friedman has put up the transcript of argument in…

Despite the political rhetoric LTC Lakin’s case has given us a number of teaching moments or opportunity to refresh on some basic practice principles. 1. Can LTC Lakin change lawyers at this stage. The answer in this case is probably yes. Although technically Mr. Jensen should submit a motion to be released and the new…

CNN has this report on the Morlock Article 32, UCMJ, hearing. A U.S. soldier accused of killing civilians in Afghanistan should face a court-martial on murder and other charges, an Army officer has recommended. The recommendation, included in a document obtained by CNN, comes after prosecutors laid out their evidence against Spc. Jeremy Morlock in…

Army Times reports: A military officer has ordered a mental evaluation for the suspect in the November Fort Hood shootings before a key hearing next week. Earlier this year, Army officials appointed a three-member board of military mental health professionals to determine whether Maj. Nidal Hasan is competent to stand trial and his mental status…

AP reports: A U.S. Coast Guard investigating officer has found no legal justification for the deadly collision of a Coast Guard boat with a smaller vessel in San Diego Bay that killed an 8-year-old boy, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday. San Diego 6 reports: [The] investigating officer has rejected claims by three crew members…

AFCCA issued an opinion in United States v. Rettinghouse today. It was an Article 62, UCMJ, appeal, with some teaching points. I note this issue arose because of – yes – trial counsel discovery violations, and then a refusal to accede to the judge’s remedy of producing witnesses for the defense. See a post here.…

The Seattle Times reports (on a Ramrod Five/Stryker Brigade case): The Army has postponed a hearing that had been scheduled for Tuesday for Staff Sgt. David Bram, who faces charges of conspiracy, striking another soldier, cruelty, dereliction of duty and impeding an investigation while serving in southern Afghanistan. Military.com reports (no surprise here, the surprise…

Thanks to DMLHS who pointed out that Neal was also denied today along with Loving.

No. 08–1476. Dwight J. Loving, Petitioner v. Department of Defense, et al. Petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied. Page 183 here.