Court-Martial Trial Practice

We are all familiar with Rock v. Arkansas, 483 U.S. 44 (1987), in which a per se bar against hypnotically refreshed testimony of an accused was held unconstitutional. Prof. Colin Miller reports that the state of Illnois finds that a per se bar can be applied to witnesses other than the accused. I Put A…

Here is an interesting, very fact specific, federal case in which the forensic examination of a computer for child pornography was suppressed. The accused had admitted possessing child pornography, showed the police his computer, but refused a search of it. The police took the computer. Then it sat around for about three weeks before the…

Here is an article brought to our attention by FourthAmendment.com. A thoughtful article about the Supreme Court’s “seizure” doctrine, so much a part of the all encompassing reasonable suspicion standard, by David K. Kessler is Free to Leave? An Empirical Look at the Fourth Amendment’s Seizure Standard, 99 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 51 (2009).…

There are two items in this month’s Journal of Law and Human Behavior with value and relevance to trial practice: an item on interviewing, and an item on how juries make decisions. Here are the titles, more later. Divine, Buddenheim, Houp, Studebaker, and Stolle, Strength of Evidence, Evidentiary Influences, and the Liberation Hypothesis, Data from…

With the increasing release of information regarding the who, what, when, where, of torture approvals comes the need to relook at the court-martial convictions of the low level military personnel who executed the policy. A policy that at the time of the trials was denied, hushed up, or ignored. We don’t have to excuse them,…

The Coast Guard has issued an opinion in United States v. McDonald, __ M.J. ___ (C.G. Ct. Crim. App. April 24, 2009). This opinion discusses why the standard trial counsel sentencing argument in drug pop cases is typically erroneous. I call it the typical absence of proof problem for trial counsel. The standard for determining…

A Naval Academy midshipman is scheduled to be court-martialed Tuesday at the Navy Yard in Washington on theft and related charges, the school announced Friday. Midshipman 1st Class Julia Kaelberer, of Rialto, Calif., has accepted a plea agreement and will face charges of theft, unlawful entry, making false official statements and conduct unbecoming an officer,…

The US Marine acquitted on appeal in a high-profile rape case has left the Philippines, but he could face court martial in the US, officials said. “Following the decision of the Philippine Court of Appeals, Daniel Smith departed the Philippines under the authority of United States military officials,” the US embassy said in a statement.…

Prof. Colin Miller, Coming Out of the Closet: How Arizona v. Gant Could Lead to the Shrinking of the Scope of Searches Incident to Lawful Home Arrests, 24 April 2009.

At 08.20, 24 April 2009, CAPT Kevin J. Barry, USCG (Ret.) became an honor graduate of life. His death is a loss not just to his family and friends but to the military justice community as a whole. Kevin worked hard and long as an advocate for his clients, for the system, and an advocate…