Court-Martial Trial Practice

Stewart v. SecNav. One of perhaps many to come in which Jim McPherson is sued in his OFFICIAL capacity. In this case, Marine Corps Officer Nicholas Stewart challenges the Navy Secretary’s refusal to grant him a waiver of statutory requirements that govern his eligibility for incentive pay as “arbitrary, capricious, . . . or otherwise…

Navy Military Justice Act 2016 Training guides Prof. Dave Schlueter has Reforming Military Justice: An Analysis of the Military Justice Act 2016. As always, TJAGSA has an excellent Deskbook which addresses aspects of the MJA-2016, The Act is here. Some other resources are available at NIMJ. The Military Justice Review Group summary with some interesting…

Fewer and fewer people these days remember the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Rube Goldberg, who died in 1970. For those who do, the name brings a smile. A “Rube Goldberg” contraption is a piece of machinery with many moving parts of various types, maniacally designed to accomplish some simple goal. Thanks to Congress, the…

Is DNA Evidence Relevant? UCLA School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 20-03 4 Pages Posted: 12 Feb 2020 Kenneth W. Graham University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) – School of Law Date Written: February 10, 2020 Abstract In admitting DNA sample taken at the crime scene in 2010 to compare it with a…

Decryption Originalism: The Lessons of Burr 134 Harvard Law Review (Forthcoming) 58 Pages Posted: 19 Mar 2020 Orin S. Kerr University of California, Berkeley School of Law Date Written: February 6, 2020 Abstract The Supreme Court is likely to rule soon on how the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination applies to compelled decryption of a…

The Evidence Rules that Convict the Innocent Cornell Law Review, Forthcoming 51 Pages Posted: 27 Mar 2020 Jeffrey Bellin William & Mary Law School Date Written: March 2, 2020 Abstract Over the past decades, DNA testing has uncovered hundreds of examples of the most important type of trial errors: innocent defendants convicted of serious crimes…

I’ve mentioned this before as more likely relevant to appellate practitioners. CAAF decided that a claim of ineffective assistance of an expert might work. On remand in McAllister he AFCCA had this to say. After considering appellant’s claims, our superior court determined that appellant did not receive competent expert assistance, but they were unable to…

In United States v. Robertson the accused was charged with CP related offenses and violation of restriction. Here is why as a trial I and my colleagues would, and you should consider–pick the serious and solid charges and leave the detritus out. When you have a solid CP case you don’t need a minor charge…

Wednesday, March 25, 2020 Batts & Sanger on Collecting Forensic Evidence in the Emergency Department By CrimProf BlogEditor Share Jayne J. Batts and Robert M. Sanger (affiliation not provided to SSRN and Santa Barbara College of Law) have posted Collecting Forensic Evidence in the Emergency Department: A Guide for Lawyers, Investigators, and Experts (American Journal…

Cheng & Mannion on Forensic Reports and the Confrontation Clause By CrimProf BlogEditor Share Edward K. Cheng and Cara Mannion (Vanderbilt Law School and affiliation not provided to SSRN) have posted Unravelling Williams v. Illinois (NYU Law Review Online) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Forensics are a staple of modern criminal trials, yet what…