Court-Martial Trial Practice

Military Times is reporting–House lawmakers Wednesday overwhelmingly passed new rules making the secret recording or unauthorized sharing of nude photos a crime under military law, in response to the Marine Corps United scandal earlier this year. Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) this week will introduce legislation meant to fight nonconsensual sharing of “private, intimate media” in…

The Army Court of Criminal Appeals has decided the case of United States v. Heath, adverse to the appellant. The question to be resolved “is whether SPC XX’s testimony was admissible as a prior consistent statement.” The case has a fairly sparse discussion but worth reading because of its resolution of an evidentiary issue under…

The state of Maryland is no longer pursuing sexual assault charges against two teenagers who were accused of dragging a 14-year-old girl into the bathroom of Rockville High School and raping her. The accused students, 18-year-old Henry Sanchez Milian and 17-year-old Jose Montano, are reportedly immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally. That made them people…

Last year we took up the appeal of an Army sergeant. After reading the record of trial, I went to meet with the client at the JRCF, Fort Leavenworth, KS to hear from him. (I make every effort to visit an appellant client in person.) We investigated and interviewed witnesses to develop a case of…

48,000. That is the approximate number of collateral consequences – specific legal restrictions, generalized discriminated and the overall social stigma – returning citizens face. These collateral consequences can adversely impact access to housing, employment, occupational licensing, education, public benefits and voting. Last month NACDL partnered with Prison Fellowship to celebrate April 2017 as Second Chance…

A gasp went up recently about the likely recall of a retired general officer for court-martial prosecution. (It’s my understanding that he’s not actually been recalled, merely that the SecArmy has determined to exercise jurisdiction. He’ll be brought on “active duty” close to trial.) See, e.g., Oriana Pawlyk, Retired General Accused of Sexual Assault Faces…

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.