Court-Martial Trial Practice

I have previously commented about evidence of the victim’s character for violence and specific incidents. To refresh – there are several ways the assault victim’s character for violent behavior can become relevant and admissible in an assault case. a. The defense puts on opinion testimony about the victim’s violent, threatening, or assaultive non-peaceful character, as…

An item sometimes missed or perhaps not always explored in cases with a confession is the question of corroboration. Here is an Army case that discusses the issue quite well. The case recognizes that the amount of corroboration is small so it’s easy to gloss over the corroboration issue. Here is the value of the…

We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Concluding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the government to present expert evidence that a thumb print found on some of the contraband recovered by the authorities was a match to Baines’ print, we affirm the judgment of the district court. United…

When the Judge Is the Jury: Your goals don’t change in a bench trial, but your techniques should, August 2009 issue of the ABA Journal.

A search warrant for drugs and possible records of drug sales did not permit officers to enter defendant’s computer where the execution of the warrant produced no evidence of drug sales on the premises. (There was also a Franks violation because the officer represented a neighbor’s report of drug use and drug sales, but the…

Does the SODDI defense work? Here are some thoughts or considerations. Elizabeth R. Tenney, Hayley M.D. Cleary, Barbara A. Spellman, “This Other Dude Did It!” A Test of the Alternative Explanation Defense, 21 The Jury Expert July 2009.

Valerie Blum, Alexandra Rudolph, From the Conference Room to the Courtroom: How a Change in Setting Affects Witness Preparation, 21 The Jury Expert, July 2009.

Seventh Circuit determines that admission of an audiotape of robbery defendant beating and threatening the life of a potential witness was a “close[ ] call” but that its probative value in suggesting defendant’s guilty conscience “cannot be genuinely disputed” and that this evidence was not unfairly prejudicial despite the fact that one could hear the…

Confession(s) To Make: Florida Court Orders Separate Trials Of Former Football Players Based Upon Bruton Issues In Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123 (1968), the Supreme Court held that when there is a joint trial of a defendant and a co-defendant, the admission into evidence of the non-testifying co-defendant’s out-of-court confession violates the Confrontation…

I have previously mentioned several cases affecting military justice that will be argued next term. Check the Maryland v. Shatzer SCOTUSwiki page throughout the summer for additional updates. Argument Preview The Fifth Amendment provides that “[n]o person . . . shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” Miranda protects…