Court-Martial Trial Practice

On 23 September 2010 USA Today published a front page piece about federal prosecutors. Federal prosecutors are supposed to seek justice, not merely score convictions. But a USA TODAY investigation found that prosecutors repeatedly have violated that duty in courtrooms across the nation. The abuses have put innocent people in prison, set guilty people free…

DOD reports General Amos to be the new Commandant of the Marine Corps: In the biggest headline-making comments during the hearing, Amos told questioning lawmakers he personally opposes repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law that prohibits gays and lesbians from openly serving in the military. He vowed, however, to ensure that whatever is…

The Boston Globe has a piece and copy of a letter from Senator John Kerry to the Secretary of Defense. In that letter Senator Kerry says: Secretary Robert M. Gates 1400 Defense Pentagon Washington, DC 20301-1400 Dear Mr. Secretary: On behalf of the family of deceased U.S. Navy sailor Caitlin Trask, who was killed by…

Missye Brickell, Filling the Criminal Liability Gap for Private Military Contractors Abroad: U.S. v. Slough and the Civilian Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act of 2010, 2 Leg. & Policy Brief. Abstract To ensure that all contractors who commit crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan can be prosecuted effectively in the United States, Congress must pass legislation to update…

There are lots of reports out there on the Stryker Brigade cases now in the Article 32, UCMJ, process. One of the highlighted issues has been the reports that SPC Winfield’s father made numerous attempts to tell the Army what was going on. Here is an interesting CNN piece: Charles Keyes, “Father: Frustrated in trying…

United States v. Stanley. The appellant raised eight errors through counsel and an additional six in accordance with United States v. Grostefon. One assignment of error warrants discussion, but no relief. Specifically, appellant alleges that the military judge erred by failing to properly instruct the panel regarding appellant’s right during mutual combat to exercise self-defense…

Kate Wiltrout at Virginia Pilot reports: The XO of USS SAN ANTONIO has chosen to go to a court-martial on charges he was negligent on the day a sailor was lost at sea last year. If convicted, Lt. Cmdr. Sean D. Kearns, now assigned to a staff job at the U.S. Navy’s Second Fleet headquarters…

The Army Court of Criminal Appeals rules are here. As previously indicated there is no “deadline” for the filing of a writ petition in this situation, but once a petition is filed several deadlines and requirements kick in. Like DMLHS I have a request in for a copy of the petition. Note that in Cheney…

Here’s a reminder about authenticating emails based on a posting from Prof. Colin Miller at EvidenceProfBlog. To paraphrase Prof. Miller: And, like its federal counterpart, [Mil. R. Evid.] 901(b)(4) provides that By way of illustration only, and not by way of limitation, the following are examples of authentication or identification conforming with the requirements of…

is the title of a pretty good song. Huffington Post uses this theme as part of a commentary on tensions created by having a lot of civilian contractors deployed. There are some interesting (unattributed) quotes from some JA’s who have been there, done that.