Court-Martial Trial Practice

The NMCCA has heard oral argument and has a case pending which challenges the constitutionality of the “new” Article 120, UCMJ. All the other Service CCA’s or MJ’s to consider this issue have found the statute constitutional. The MJ’s have taken varying approaches in the court-room though. One MJ I had ended up basically using…

As I sit in the VA crim law CLE we have an hour on immigration issues and convictions. The VA crim law Bar considers the consequnce of conviction to be a “very important” aspect of criminal law practice. And other consequences seem just as important. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

United States v. Rose, __ M.J. ___, No. ACM 36508 (A.F. Ct. Crim. App. Feb. 12, 2009), has been released. Thanks to CAAFLog for early access to this important case. This is a case on collateral consequences of court-martial convictions. We’ve discussed SOR several times. The discussion of collateral consequences, especially in guilty plea cases…

Patrick Clayborn, Pre-court-martial hearing held for Fort Rucker soldier, 11 February 2009. So called shaken-baby cases can be difficult. The evidence of nexus between acts alleged and injury or death can be ambiguous and subject to interpretation, or in some cases overpowering. There are several cases worth reading in this area, Warner, in particular is…

Greg Bruno, Backgrounder: Closing Guantanamo, Council on Foreign Relations, 12 February 2009. You will notice a reference to trial by court-martial under the UCMJ. Some, including legal experts with the Congressional Research Service, suggest the current UCMJ structure might run counter to constitutional protections such as the right to a speedy trial. Good question. How…

Peter Tillers, Prior False Accusation Evidence and the Confrontation Clause, 12 February 2009, draws attention to an excellent law review piece potentially relevant to a frequent number of military sexual assault cases. Jules Epstein, True Lies: The Constitutional and Evidentiary Bases for Admitting Prior False Accusation Evidence in Sexual Assault Prosecutions, 24 QUINNIPIAC L. REV.…

United States v. Goode, No. 07-2269, 2009 U. S. App. LEXIS 2471, unpublished op. (3d Cir. 9 February 2009). The interesting point for this case is that the court found that telling a person to stop, ordering them to lie on the ground, and placing them in handcuffs is merely an investigative “stop.” Once additional…

Professor Miller has an interesting post today, Lie To Me?: Supreme Court Of Maine Opinion Reveals That Jury Deliberations Can Be Used To Prove Juror Deceit During Voir Dire,11 February 2009. The recent opinion of the United States District Court for the District of Maine in Watts v. Maine, 2009 WL 249236 (D. Me. 2009),…

United States v. Gross (Military Judge), Army Misc. 20081049 unpublished op. (A. Ct. Crim. App. 9 January 2009). [When you get to the court site, go to the “summary dispositions – by date” page.] This case is a government petitione for an extraordinary writ (not listed in the Denedo pleadings at the Supreme Court as…

The Army Court of Criminal Appeals has now started loading cases to populate the “Summary Disposition” page. Get there through A.C.C.A. The court has also posted several new cases — more later.