Court-Martial Trial Practice

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…

Autistic Marine booted from the Corps By Gidget Fuentes – Staff writer, Marine Times. Posted : Monday Aug 3, 2009 21:23:33 EDT

Civilian attorneys get quite a few questions about expunging court-martial convictions. The answer is no, it can’t be done in the same way that many states allow for an expungement. The closest way to have it removed from your record is to have a court-martial reversed for factual sufficiency at the CCA, or get a…

Tenth Circuit Joins Consensus On Admissibility Of Fingerprint Evidence In conspiracy to possess marijuana and illegal firearm possession prosecution, expert fingerprint testimony identifying the defendant’s thumb print on guns and ammunition was admissible under FRE 702 and Daubert even though the defendant raised “questions regarding whether fingerprint analysis can be considered truly scientific in an…

Sailor Charged With Murder Kills Self August 01, 2009 Military.com A Navy man accused of killing another Sailor at Camp Pendleton in Southern California took his own life Friday in his cell, officials said. Jonathan Campos, 32, was on suicide watch in the brig, the Los Angeles Times reported. He was found unresponsive at 12:20…