Court-Martial Trial Practice

Here is a link to CAAF’s new decision in United States v. Chatfield. The opinion is valuable for three issues: what is custody, what is coercion, and a reminder to consider jointness of military and civilian investigations. When does a superiors words of actions create a custodial interrogation situation or make a person’s waiver of…

Faulty Science?, By Maurice Possley Mistaken diagnoses of Shaken Baby Syndrome may have sent thousands of innocent people to prison, according to a new study — Read the research here Deborah Tuerkheimer, The Next Innocence Project: Shaken Baby Syndrome and the Criminal Courts, Washington University Law Review, Vol. 87, 2009. TheCrimeReport.org

Professor Colin Miller, Chicken Little Or Canary In The Coal Mine?: Supreme Court Finally Issues Opinion In Melendez-Diaz, Finding Certificates Of State Laboratory Analysts To Be “Testimonial,” 25 June 2009. Analysis: Law need not bow to chemistry, SCOTUSBlog.

Here is a link to Professor Friedman’s initial thoughts on this case. First, this is a terrific decision. It is the right result, for the right reasons. It clears up a lot of issues that should have been clear. It should have been unanimous; the principal concern it raises is not anything it says, or…

I particularly like this part: Forensic evidence is not uniquely immune fromthe risk of manipulation. According to a recent study conducted under the auspices of the National Academy ofSciences, “[t]he majority of [laboratories producing foren-sic evidence] are administered by law enforcement agen-cies, such as police departments, where the laboratoryadministrator reports to the head of the…

Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts This is the link to the Supreme Court Decision in M-D. Here’s a link to the arguments before the court. Laboratory reports ARE testimonial. Now, what reports are covered? Here is a “comment” by Crime & Consequences blog. Justice Scalia, writing for a 5-4 majority, authored the Supreme Court’s decision in Melendez-Diaz…

Here is the lead in for an piece on federalevidence.com blog: In medical malpractice case, trial court’s exclusion of defense expert as unqualified was not harmless error; the defense expert’s opinion that the plaintiff’s expert’s conclusion was not supported by the medical literature plaintiff cited did not require the defense expert to have as much…

For those following the animal cruelty case at Fort Bliss, and also noting CAAFLogs reference to a potential new “charge” in the UCMJ of animal cruelty, here is a public discussion by the Fort Bliss garrision commander about his decision to issue an Article 15, UCMJ, punishment. Fort Bliss Garrison Commander Col. Edward Manning talked…

CAAF has granted review in United States v. Trew of this issue (this is a link to Trew’s discussion on CAAFLog and the NMCCA opinion) (and here is my earlier post): WHETHER, IN LIGHT OF UNITED STATES v. WALTERS, 58 M.J. 391 (C.A.A.F. 2003) AND UNITED STATES v. SEIDER, 60 M.J. 36 (C.A.A.F. 2004), THE…

Jury instructions to include rules on use of new media Recent incidents of jurors using new media during cases in civilian courtrooms in the States have led a military judge to rework instructions given to panelists in military courts-martial. Army Col. Ted Dixon, a military judge who edits the military judges’ benchbook, said he’s not…