Court-Martial Trial Practice

United States v. Lopez-Medina, 461 F.3d 724 (6th Cir. 2006). Federal Evidence Review draws attention to this case on the issue of law enforcement testimony. The case involved drugs. In military prosecutions we have similar situations where law enforcement testifies about drugs. The circuit concluded that plain error resulted: “We conclude that permitting police officers…

Internal Exile: Collateral Consequences of Conviction in Federal Laws and Regulations, A Collaboration of the American Bar Association Commission on Effective Criminal Sanctions and the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, January 2009. The Introduction says: This study collects and describes the collateral consequences of a criminal conviction that arise under federal statutes…

In a cautionary tale, Prof. Colin Miller, If You Were In The Public Eye: Kentucky Court Finds That Third Party Statements Were Properly Excluded From A Public Report, EvidenceProf Blog, 24 February 2009. Professor Miller draws attention to a Kentucky case which has relevance to Mil. R. Evid. 803(4), the public records exception, and potentially…

The oral argument transcript is now available in Rivera v. Illinois.

United States v. Rivera may not be the case to watch after all if the analysis is correct. Lyle Denniston, Analysis: How many ways to lose a case?, SCOTUSBlog, 23 February 2009. In summary, By the time Justice Anthony M. Kennedy asked a government lawyer which of several ways he would prefer the Supreme Court…

In his first public statements since a 2005 double-murder arrest in Iraq, now-acquitted Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez of Rensselaer County said Tuesday he was “very, very innocent” of the slayings — yet expected a guilty verdict. This is reported at Veterans for Common-Sense.org, and is a reprint of: Robert Gavin, Army Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez,…

Prof. Colin Miller, The Sense Of The Past: Third Circuit Corrects Worst Present Sense Impression Ruling I Have Ever Seen, 23 February 2009. United States v Green, 2009 WL 385423 (3rd Cir. 2009). over Green’s vigorous objection, the Government was permitted to introduce as substantive evidence a statement that Brown purportedly made some 50 minutes…

Expert Can Testify About “Role-Playing In … Sexually Explicit Conversations On The Internet”, Federal Evidence Review, 25 September 2008. For those of us who have done internet solicitation cases, the concept of role-playing and lying amongst participants is a known serious issue. These cases, as have mine, usually come up because the client shows up…

An important case involving the seating of a jury (Members panel) was argued today at the U.S. Supreme Court. Here is a summary of the case from SCOTUSBlog. Argument Preview: Jury selection dynamics. Here are the relevant background documents in Rivera v. Illinois, via SCOTUSWiki. The transcript of oral argument should be posted in a…