Court-Martial Trial Practice

Been a while since I’ve posted something related to technology and this century. (I should note a red book sighting the other day at NLSO WNY.) Here is an interesting article. Of course those of us with the offending L1 GPS systems are quite aware of running into brick walls or cul-de-sacs due to inaccuracies.…

CAAF has issued an opinion in United States v. Campos, __ M.J. ____ (C.A.A.F. 2009). The court was unanimous, although Judge Baker filed a separate concurring opinion. This is an opinion that essentially discusses the inadmissible evidence thrust down an accused’s throat through a stipulation as part of a pretrial agreement. Basically, if you stipulate,…

FLETC’s The Informer is out for this month. In addition to commentary on Ventris and Gant, here are a couple of summaries of two computer search cases. 10th CIRCUIT United States v. Otero, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 9001, April 28, 2009. The modern development of the personal computer and its ability to store and intermingle…

In some, non-U.S., police circles it’s called gilding the lily. But you are not supposed to get caught. Officer Investigated For Perjury After DUI Case Falls Apart, By Dan Morse, Washington Post, 7 May 2009. Although gilding the lily is really more subtle than this. It’s those oft remembered micro-facts months after the case, arrest,…

Here is a fascinating article and it references CAAFLog. Lee has concerns about the potential for bloggers to impact the outcome of a case. She even suggests that advocates may go so far as to “game” a case, by writing publicly about it in a blog to spur the Court to grant cert or rule…

I frequently find myself objecting to or submitting in-limine motions about law enforcement testimony on how they got involved in the investigation. That testimony usually has a lengthy recitation that includes inadmissible hearsay from people, alleged victims, alleged co-accuseds, other law enforcement personnel. You have multiple hearsay, 401, and 403 objections. Here’s how the state…

CAAF has issued their opinion in United States v. Delarosa, __ M.J. ___ (C.A.A.F. 2009). In this case the appellant was initially prosecuted in state court. As a result of a granted suppression motion the state prosecution was dismissed. It appears the state court judge found the civilian police did not “scrupulously” follow the suspects…

DOJ has dropped its appeal and Watada will not be retried because of double jeopardy concerns. Here is a more detailed SeattlePI.com report.

There will be no more oral arguments this term. The “watch” now relates to two pending decisions of importance to military justice practitioners. The most important is when will the Supremes issue an opinion in Melendez-Diaz. Currently the law in the military for admission of forensic reports is Harcrow (for which M-D is on point).…

Here is a follow-up on a proposed change to Fed. R. Evid. 804(b)(3), a good recommendation. On April 23-24, 2009, the Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules, of the U.S. Judicial Conference, recommended a proposed amendment to Evidence Rule 804(b)(3). The proposed amendment would clarify that the corroborating circumstances requirement under the rule applies to statements…