Court-Martial Trial Practice

Here at truthout is a different perspective on the rapper case. According to Jeff Paterson of Courage to Resist, an Oakland-based organization dedicated to supporting military objectors like Hall, he was not jailed for the song, but was instead jailed “in retaliation for his formal complaint of inadequate mental health services available to him at…

SCOTUSBlog reports that: At about 11 a.m. Monday, the Supreme Court will hear one hour of oral argument in City of Ontario, et al., v. Quon, et al. (08-1332). Arguing for the California city and its police department will be Kent L. Richland of Greines, Martin, Stein & Richland in Los Angeles. The federal government,…

Here is another viewpoint, from a civilian, about the need to court-martial LTC Lakin. The (Greeley, CO) Tribune opinion says: When you become a soldier of the United States of America, you lose some of your rights. Except in extreme cases, you no longer have the right to refuse orders of superiors. You don’t have…

I expect we’ll see several commentary’s about the Hennis trial. Here is one from Myron Pitts, FayObserver.com, which he calls, “Evidence adds up in support of Hennis verdict.” (Along with the article is a great list of links to prior reporting on the case.) I saw a military jury convict Hennis on April 8 and…

Thanks to Professor Colin Miller for this piece. In Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, the Supreme Court recently found that certificates of state laboratory analysts are “testimonial” and thus covered by the Confrontation Clause. Thus, if the forensic analysts (or similar experts) who prepared such certificates (or similar documents) do not testify at a criminal defendant’s trial,…

Here courtesy of Sentencing Law & Policy: This weekend’s must-read comes via this link at SSRN to a new piece by Margaret Colgate Love and Gabriel Chin concerning the Supreme Court’s important decision late last month in Padilla v. Kentucky. “Padilla v. Kentucky: The Right to Counsel and the Collateral Consequences of Conviction.” Here is…

It appears that the case of the “rapper” charged with making threats through rap songs and his website has been resolved. For some weeks the case drew criticism from supporters and the public and the military attitude to free speech issues. Something that we are seeing again in regard to LTC Lakin and Sgt Gary…

Stars & Stripes and others are reporting that: DoD is starting to announce new policies that may go into effect because of the inquiry into Major Hasan. I expect two will cause some heartburn: More restrictive policy regarding weapons on base, including in quarters. I expect there will an initial uptick in Second Amendment related…

Professor Colin Miller has posted an excellent piece about the current status of expert testimony about the inaccuracies of eyewitness identification. I have done several posts on this blog (here, here, here, here, here, and here) about the inaccuracy of regular and cross-racial eyewitness identifications and whether expert testimony about this inaccuracy should be allowed.…

FayObserver reports that: An Army major who allegedly told another soldier that his fellow jury members in an October court-martial acted improperly and with an agenda testified Thursday that he never made such an allegation. Pvt. Justin A. Boyle – a sergeant before having his rank stripped – was convicted in October of involuntary manslaughter…