Court-Martial Trial Practice

Here is an interesting commentary on: Justice lag Lt Col Jeffrey Chessani, a Marine Corps officer charged with failing to report or investigate the killings in Haditha, photographed at Camp Pendleton in June 2008. Charges against Chessani – and against six of the other seven men facing courts-martials – have since been dropped. Denis Poroy…

Did Iraq veteran’s PTSD spark his shoplifitng charge? By Julia O’Malley | Anchorage Daily News. Do you have client accused of shoplifting, a senior officer or senior enlisted perhaps, a really good person who no-one would have imagined as stealing from the Exchange? Can you explain that? For some years I have successfully argued from…

“My Lai Mea Culpa” Hits Close to Home for UMKC Professor John Holt FOX 4 Web, September 16, 2009. Here is a link to some “history” of My Lai.

I have posted about various federal law suits by military officers seeking to avoid deployments because they do not believe President Obama is lawfully the present – here, here, and here. In one of those posts I asked the question about possible sanctions against the plaintiff and/or the plaintiffs lawyer for bringing frivolous law suits.…

September 15, 2009 1:56 PM TOM ROEDER, THE GAZETTE Two Fort Carson soldiers are scheduled for courts-martial this month for alleged sex crimes. The two privates from a bomb-disposal unit will be in court charged with the forcible rape of a female soldier at the post. Another sex crime trial that had been scheduled for…

Here’s a useful and timely article. Hafemeister & Stockey on Criminal Responsibility of War Veterans with PTSD Thomas L. Hafemeister (University of Virginia School of Law) and Nicole A. Stockey have posted Last Stand? The Criminal Responsibility of War Veterans Returning from Iraq and Afghanistan W ith Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Indiana Law Journal, Forthcoming) on…

NMCCA has issued an opinion in United States v. Glass. This reads like another of the “can they do that,” cases I come across often. During the investigative stages clients constantly want to know “can they do that.” NMCCA’s answer is – well, yes they can – there is nothing illegal going on here. Here…

The CGCCA has decided United States v. Molena. Before this Court, Appellant has assigned the following four errors: I. Appellant was denied effective counsel when his attorney erroneously informed him that he would not need to register as a sex offender. II. The bad-conduct discharge is an inappropriately severe sentence. III. Defense counsel’s failure to…

I posted the ACCA decision in Lynndie England’s Article 66, UCMJ, appeal. Now this: Monday, Sep. 14, 2009, Military high court to hear Abu Ghraib appeals, By DAVID DISHNEAU – HAGERSTOWN, Md. — The U.S. military’s highest court has scheduled oral arguments next month on two appeals stemming from the abuse of detainees at Abu…

Bobby Gifford has been kind enough to point our attention to this article. COURT-MARTIAL JURISDICTION OVER RETIREES UNDER ARTICLES 2(4) AND 2(6): TIME TO LIGHTEN UP AND TIGHTEN UP? By J. Mackey Ives & LTC(R) Michael J. Davidson, 175 Mil. L. Rev. 1 (March 2003) “In contrast, retired reservists are only subject to military jurisdiction…