Court-Martial Trial Practice

The author of this article clearly doesn’t understand. THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE TO THE PENTAGON’S WAR ON SEXUAL ASSAULT: THE MILITARY JUSTICE SYSTEM: A legal principle intended to protect service members after World War II has spawned a dangerous precedent.

Amy Howe, SCOTUSBlog reports on a new decision relevant to military practitioners. Opinion analysis: Justices decline to extend Fourth Amendment’s “automobile exception” When two Virginia police officers searched for the motorcyclist who had eluded them by driving away at speeds of up to 140 miles per hour, they probably would not have imagined that the…

The Supreme Court, however, “has long recognized that the military is, by necessity, a specialized society separate from civilian society” and “that the military has, again by necessity, developed laws and traditions of its own during its long history.” See Parker v. Levy, 417 U.S. 733, 743, 94 S. Ct. 2547, 2555, 41 L. Ed.…

Though not raised by Appellant, an error in the staff judge advocate’s recommendation (SJAR) compels us to remand the case for new post-trial processing. United States v. Spelts, Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals (May 2018). Now for this. The Government would be well-advised to find no solace in our resolution of this obvious error.…

Friend DP notes a pending Supreme Court petition in Gamble v. United States. It looks like the case was supposed to have been presented at Thursdays conference. Issue: Whether the Supreme Court should overrule the “separate sovereigns” exception to the double jeopardy clause. If the court grants the petition and if the court rules in…

Meet service members entrusted with guarding nuclear missiles that are among the most powerful in America’s arsenal. Air Force records obtained by The Associated Press show they bought, distributed and used the hallucinogen LSD and other mind-altering illegal drugs as part of a ring that operated undetected for months on a highly secure military base…

Military personnel interviewed as a suspect by a MCIO are never told they are under arrest, but that’s the effect of the MCIO taking fingerprints, “mug-shots” and DNA. Once “arrested” you become titled and that information goes into the federal data base. Same if you are prosecuted, although the MCIO is supposed to update the…

I’m having a problem with some appellate cases. The charges are referred, trial sessions are held, for one reason or another the charges are withdrawn, and then they come back. When the ROT is prepared the earlier hearings are not part of the ROT, why not? One of these days a CCA is going to…

In United States v. Kelly, __ M.J. __, No.17-0559/AR the CAAF decides that a court of criminal appeals has the power to disapprove a mandatory minimum punitive discharge, reversing the published en banc (but non-unanimous) decision of the Army CCA. While Congress changed the law to impose a mandatory dishonorable discharge in some cases, they…

Military personnel are told to believe the victim and consider the accused guilty unless, the quote from a former Air Force TJAG, there’s a silver bullet showing innocence. But what if the silver bullet isn’t available. Here the state trooper was saved by his bodycam from a false allegation. An attorney is apologizing for spreading…