Court-Martial Trial Practice

Hours Before Court-Martial, Army Resister Victor Agosto Speaks Out on Why He’s Refusing to Fight in Afghanistan: from Democracy Now, 5 August 2009. ————————————————- Ex-soldier appeals court-martial, Rochelle Hines, Florida AP. (Hopefully it’s not his lawyer who has the names of the appellate courts wrong.) Camilo Mejia, 1st GI to Publicly Resist Iraq War, Appeals…

August 06, 2009 Associated Press FORT HOOD, Texas — A Soldier who refused to deploy to Afghanistan over his beliefs that the war violates international law was sentenced here Wednesday to a month in jail. Spc. Victor Agosto, 24, of Miami, pleaded guilty to disobeying a lawful order to report to a site that performs…

United States v. Usry, __ M.J. __, No. 1298 (C.G. Ct. Crim. App. Aug. 5, 2009). This case discusses the different issues that can come up when there is an indication that the client is having a bad mental health day at trial. The problem can come from medications the client is on, or an…

[Note: sorta in construction] Many are familiar with my office-in-a-briefcase: the color printer, color scanner, computer, and some peripherals that do — yes — do fit in a briefcase for traveling. Listed on this page are some items that I use or have come across that are useful in a mobile practice. Many of the…

From time to time I try to get a judge to accept and instruct on an adverse inference. Or at least argue it. Generally adverse inferences come up when evidence is “lost” or there has been a refusal of discovery. Basically the argument goes that if the evidence isn’t provided for a reason within the…

Here is an interesting piece about Members having certain types of electronic evidence in the deliberation room. A few federal courts provide guidance on the use of electronic evidence during jury deliberations, including the Ninth Circuit Model Jury Instructions and the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire. /tip Federal Evidence blog.

Army, Rep. Frank investigating charge that soldiers killed gay Iraqis By CHRIS JOHNSON, Washington Blade | Aug 4 2009, 1:38 PM The U.S. military is investigating claims that U.S. service members were involved in committing atrocities against gays in Iraq, although at least one activist is skeptical about the veracity of the allegations. The U.S.…

Here’s the initial story. Military and Media Clash In Complaint Navy Spokesman Alleges Abuse by Miami Reporter By Howard Kurtz Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, July 25, 2009 Tensions between journalists and military officials are nothing new. But a bitter series of clashes between a top Navy spokesman and a Miami Herald military reporter reached…

The following is the breakdown of sexual assaults involving midshipmen reported at the Naval Academy from 2001 to 2006, according to an analysis of documents: 49 cases of mids accused of sexual assault. 11 cases were dropped when alleged victims declined to participate in an investigation, leaving 38 cases to be investigated. Of those 38,…

His true name remains unknown; he was called Kid by the military personnel at San Carlos Reservation in the southern Arizona Territory where he served with the US Army as an Indian scout intermittently from 1882-87. He became known as Apache Kid only after he was court-martialed on charges of desertion and mutiny following a…