United States v. Plant was a difficult appeal, for a lot of reasons. Ultimately we were able to get some relief at the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. The court set-aside a conviction of child endangerment and ordered a sentence reassessment. Faced with the issue back in the Air Force Court of Criminal…
Continue reading ›“If we prioritize conviction rates rather than having just verdicts, and if we vote that way in elections, this problem [of unfair, biased criminal prosecutions] will just continue.” by Todd VanDerWerff on January 11, 2016, Netflix’s Making a Murderer: the directors explain what many have missed about the series. Vox.com, January 11, 2016. Prosecutorial bias…
Continue reading ›Barracks, Dormitories, and Capitol Hill: Finding Justice in the Divergent Politics of Military and College Sexual Assault 3. By Major Rudderless: 15 Years and Still Little Direction on the Boundaries of Military Rule of Evidence 513 4. By Major Open-Ended Pharmaceutical Alibi: The Army’s Quest to Limit the Duration of Controlled Substances for Soldiers 5.…
Continue reading ›Out of Focus: Expanding the Definition of Child Pornography in the Military 3. By Major Kenneth Borgnino.pdf The Code Indicted: Why the Time is Right to Implement a Grand Jury Proceeding in the Military 6. By Major John G. Doyle.pdf
Continue reading ›The Army Court of Criminal Appeals has an interesting opinion and reminder about the relationship of improper relationships when there is an allegation of sexual assault. United States v. Delgado, ARMY 20140927 (A. Ct. Crim. App. 6 January 2016). AR 600-20, para. 4-14b. prohibits relationships between soldiers of different ranks if they: (1) Compromise, or…
Continue reading ›Is this agent still investigating? Does this agent have any pending investigations or appearance as a witness in a UCMJ case? A man arrested just before Christmas for allegedly pulling out his gun at a restaurant because he didn’t like the bill is a Special Agent for the U.S. Army’s Criminal Investigation Division. Curtiss Davis…
Continue reading ›Thus begins a review of the Military Justice Review Group (MJRG) report Part 1. My comments will be in no particular order. Confinement to Bread & Water Currently, a person can be confined for up to three days on bread and water rations, under certain circumstances. The MJRG recommends removing this as a punishment. They…
Continue reading ›The pretrial appellate litigation in Bergdahl is effectively over–charges are referred to trial and he has been arraigned. For those interested in the litigation to get access to UCMJ art. 32 hearing documents, I have collated the documents here. There is a new effort to get quicker media access to trial documents from the Hearst…
Continue reading ›We are all familiar with the interactions that can occur between the military and civilian prosecutors when deciding who will prosecute a servicemember for crimes in the “civilian” community. Sometimes the result is a civilian prosecution and the military takes adverse administrative actions, sometimes the civilians hand over the case to the military, and sometimes…
Continue reading ›The interesting case of West v. Rieth, et. al. has come across the transom and it’s worth the read. West alleges that the Federal Defendants, who with one exception were also U.S. Marine Corps service members at all relevant times, conspired to lodge false complaints and accusations of sexual harassment and sexual assault against him.…
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