Court-Martial Trial Practice

DoD has published the Department of Defense Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military for 2015. Of the 6,083 initial complaints filed last year, about 1,500 were “restricted,” meaning the victim was a service member who reported the assault but refused to participate in any criminal investigation and only sought healthcare and victims’ support…

Adam M. Gershowitz, The Post-Riley Search Warrant: Search Protocols and Particularity in Cell Phone Searches, 69 Vand. L. Rev. 585 (2016) Margaret Dodson, Bruton on Balance: Standardizing Redacted Codefendant Confessions Through Federal Rule of Evidence 403, 69 Vand. L. Rev. 803 (2016)

This week, the Combat Clemency Project at the University of Chicago Law School petitioned for a Presidential Pardon on behalf of Corey R. Clagett, a former Army PFC released on March 31, 2016 from the US military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas after a decade of incarceration. https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/review-combat-clemency-petitions-and-pursue-military-mental-health-reform

In United States v. Mercier, __ M.J. __, No. 20160318 (C.G. Ct. Crim. App. Mar. 18, 2016) the court denied a Government interlocutory appeal of a military judge’s ruling that found that a specification was improperly referred and dismissed the specification without prejudice. This would seem to be a perfect opportunity to take up, again,…

It should go without saying that a court-martial is a most serious matter, and the requirement for proof beyond a reasonable doubt plays a vital role in the legitimacy of the military justice system. A “society that values the good name and freedom of every individual should not condemn a man for commission of a…

CAAF’s Daily Journal for 25 March 2016 has this entry. No. 16-0413/AR. In re Christopher E. Strunk, Christopher B. Garvey, and Harold W. Van Allen, Petitioners. Notice is hereby given that a petition under 28 USC §1651 for writ of mandamus and injunction equity relief in the matter of the New York Republican Party POTUS…

Courtesy of Prof. Colin Miller and his excellent evidence blog, here are some thoughts for the day on prosecutor error. Keep this in mind when the prosecution want’s to admit documents or reports. 6th Circuit Case w/Brady Violation Based on Nondisclosure of Cover Sheet About Unreliability of Evidence In the recent reopened PCR proceedings, Adnan…

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/files/nacdl-comments-draft-6-mpc-sexual-assault-and-related-offenses-docx-1.pdf http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2753718

Can the actions of military prosecutors raise the specter of Unlawful Command Influence? Maybe. That conclusion can at least can be gleaned from the case of United States v. Garcia, decided in 2015 by the Army Court of Criminal Appeals. (United States v. Garcia, No. 20130660, 2015 CCA LEXIS 335 (A. Ct. Crim. App. August…

The Sex Offender program is under revision. The old sentencing requirements were 45 months to include abatement time (earned time/good conduct time/transportation time and consideration for treatment starting every quarter). The new Sex Offender Treatment Program (SOTP) requires at least 31 months sentencing to be considered for the program. We do not advocate increasing or…