Court-Martial Trial Practice

A prosecutor’s understanding of their duty. In exercising their awesome power a prosecutor should “Remember what it means to get it wrong. A criminal goes free. An innocent person is wrongfully punished. The community is less safe. The system has failed in its mission.” So says a former prosecutor with experience as a defense counsel.…

History alerts us to this day–in 1863–as the day General Order #100 was promulgated. If you have not read it, I highly recommend John Fabian Witt’s Lincoln’s Code.

Friend Gene Fidell has posted an interesting piece at JustSecurity blog entitled: https://www.justsecurity.org/40208/u-s-military-justice-operational-mishaps-primer/

I’ve put a quick note about the new change to Navy Regulations about posting of nude images — here.

So goes the post of Rep. Ratcliffe (R-TX). Similarly, the second portion of my bill addresses enhanced sentences for individuals with prior sex offenses. Our child exploitation laws consistently call for higher sentences when a defendant has a prior conviction for federal or state sex offenses. However, these sentencing provisions do not consistently include all…

Chief Judge Erdmann is scheduled to leave the court in July 2017. At that point, the next judge in line will fleet up to be chief judge. Interestingly Judges Stucky and Ryan took the oath on the same day for the same term. However, I’m reliably advised that by statute Judge Stucky will become chief…

As part of due diligence defense counsel want to know as much about a witness as possible–that’s OK and ethical. Many of us have found helpful information on social media accounts. The gist of Formal Opinion 466 is that, within the context of Model Rule 3.5, a lawyer may review a juror’s or potential juror’s…

Sophie J. Hart & Dennis M. Martin, Essay: Judge Gorsuch and the Fourth Amendment, 69 Stan. L. Rev. Online 132 (March 2017).

CAAF’s Daily Journal has this entry for 8 March 2017. No. 17-0226/AF. U.S. v. Dorian K. Owens. CCA 38834. On consideration of the petition for grant of review of the decision of the United States Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals, it is ordered that said petition is hereby granted on the following issue: WHETHER…

We caution trial counsel…[as to] how difficult this area of the law can be. There are still issues to be resolved in this arena…. With precedents far from settled, only the bravest of advocacy acrobats ought to tempt fate. (They do so at their own peril, for we guarantee no safety net against reversal). United…