Court-Martial Trial Practice

I have Rules of Engagement for clients: for their conduct around the court-house, in the court-room, and on the witness stand. If you’ve done a case with me you have the ROE. They need it, and typically the more senior the client the more the need for ROE. So, it’s timely of Angus to talk…

The Army Court of Criminal Appeals has decided United States v. Lanier, No. 20080296 (A. Ct. Crim. App. 4 February 2009). The opinion has some current value, even though this is a guilty plea and adequacy of the providency case. In this case the appellant was granted EML from duty in Iraq because his father…

United States v. Jones, No. 07-10289-MLW, 2009 U.S. Dis. LEXIS 6434 (D. Mass. 21 January 2009).* Prosecutors do this all the time. Prosecutors either fail to provide discovery or do so in a slow-rolling fashion. As the recent decision in Jones illustrates, it’s a gamble. The gamble is that provided there is no showing of…

The A.C.C.A. website now lists United States v. Rosas on it’s argument schedule. CAAFLog notes that the, “[Harvaad] web site doesn’t provide any guidance as to members of the public (including members of the military) without a Harvard i.d. would be admitted to the argument.] So, the existence of the argument is a little more…

Say it ain’t so . . . The Army Court of Criminal Appeals goes to Harvard Law School on 5 February 2009, to hear oral argument in a case that is closed to the public — or at least that’s the perception. Information came our way a short while ago from an attorney practicing before…

In United States v. Remsburg, No. 20070161 (A. C.t. Crim. App. 30 January 2009), the court looked at three issues: whether the judge improperly restricted defense solicitation of favorable victim impact testimony; whether the judge was mean to the defense counsel; and post-trial delay. On the post-trial delay issue the court notes: In his addendum,…

Well, according to the military appellate courts and law, a military member can consent to a search. However, is that realistic. The military is a society that follows orders. Can the circumstances surrounding the request for a consent search be so (objectively?) onerous as to make a refusal futile. I think so. Remember how the…

For many years I’ve had a small book on my shelf called How to Lie with Statistics first published in 1954. I see that it is now in a 1993 paperback edition, with pictures. Darrell Huff, How to Lie with Statistics, W. W. Norton & Company (September 1993). I am reminded of Mr. Huff’s book…

As a defense counsel you can learn a lot from the prosecutors. Here is a APRI monograph which explains emails and how to maybe identify who has been sending them. This type of information is as equally useful to the defense counsel as to the prosecutor. The reverse of course works for prosecutors. Make Sun…

Professor Yung posts and asks Which Community Standard? The question relates to purchasing of alleged obscence materials across state lines. For courts-martial, the community standard question is also important for allegations alleging indecency or obscenity. It would be beneficial for a service-member being prosecuted at court-martial for an incident in the local town to argue…