Court-Martial Trial Practice

USPO’s delivery guarantee creates no constitutional possessory interest in a package in transit: The post office delivery guarantee does not create a constitutional possessory interest such that US Postal Inspectors could delay a package in Juneau, Alaska for a dog sniff and a search warrant to open it before delivery. United States v. Jefferson, 2009…

Clients usually ask me if they should write their congressperson. My answer is invariably no – unless you are their son or daughter, or unless you give them thousands of dollars in campaign funds every year. For those who insist I always tell them to be careful what to say because that could come back…

Splitting 5-4, the Supreme Court on Tuesday overruled its 23-year-old ruling in Michigan v. Jackson on the rights of a criminal suspect in police custody who has asked for a lawyer. The Court did so in Montejo v. Louisiana (07-1529), in an opinion written by Justice Antonin Scalia. After Scalia announced the decision, Justice John…

This case shows one of the downsides of constantly having a cellphone at your side, pocket, or hip. A man is arrested. Pursuant to the Supreme Court’s opinion in United States v. Robinson, 414 U.S. 218 (1973), “[a] full search of the person, his effects, and the area within his immediate reach at the time…

I’ve noted before that people get nervous when stopped and questioned by the police. Being nervous is not by itself a sign that the person is lying or a criminal or doing something wrong. Although of course NCIS/OSI/CID will often say it is so. As the writer notes here, The very presence of a police…

The National District Attorney Association has a pending Third Edition to the National Prosecution Standards pending. You need a key to read it, gosh forbid the public might be allowed to know the standards, and perhaps comment on them.

Recruiters and fake high school graduation and home schooling certificates, and now this: The U.S. Army is investigating soldiers who bought degrees from an illegal diploma mill that was based in Spokane and resulted in prison time for its operators. The Army’s Human Resources Command is using a list of customers of the diploma mill…

Talking to a group of relaxing Soldiers former Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld reiterated that you have to go to war in what you’ve got. Military.com, 22 May 2009. “Any soldier who goes into battle against the Taliban in pink boxers and flip-flops has a special kind of courage,” Rumsfeld Robert Gates said, adding that Specialist…

Wife Doubts PTSD Bigamy Excuse, Military.com, 22 May 2009. A Missouri woman whose husband was cleared of bigamy said she does not believe his claim that post-traumatic stress disorder made him forget his marriage.

This week my technology item is PhoneTag. PhoneTag is a fee based system to receive voicemails as a written email. While on a business trip to Los Angeles in 2003, James Siminoff was out to dinner with friends. Before they could sit down, William had to sort through a 20 minute backlog of voicemails gathered…