Court-Martial Trial Practice

Here is a link to the MCM changes effective 17 June 2015.

A former client directed me to the Air Force Reporter, Vol. 42, No. 1 (2015). In reading about an aspect of his case, my eyes rolled down to this. It is on page 50. CASE 2 Prior to a court-martial, a Special Victims’ Counsel (SVC) advised a client that the SVC would not be attending…

We often hear of prosecution misconduct going unchallenged or undisciplined. Two events this week are noteworthy though in efforts to hold prosecutors accountable. Armstrong v. Daily, et. al., is a case out of the Seventh. The M-W Journal Sentinal extracts this: He brought a civil rights suit against the prosecutor on his case, John Norsetter,…

The Georgia Supreme Court extends Padilla In Alexander v. State, decided on May 11, the Georgia Supreme Court agreed that a failure to advise on parole issues from a guilty plea was ineffective assistance under Strickland v. Washington. Military lawyers know there are two specific areas they must ensure adequate advice about to clients: the…

Listen up: “Every occasion of a proved false allegation has an insidious effect on public confidence, sometimes allowing doubts to creep into when one shouldn’t exist.” Said the judge on sentencing. That’s right, the failure to hold people accountable for false accusations harms true victims. Col Christensen of POD says this doesn’t happen and that…

Ask the prosecutor in this case. In re Kline. Military prosecutors are bound by Service rules of professional responsibility. Those rules are based on the ABA Model Rules. The ethical rule regarding prosecutorial disclosure in the District of Columbia, as in most states, incorporated the “tends to negate guilt” standard promulgated by the ABA in…

1 May 2015 saw the release of a number of reports and memorandums regarding military sexual assault. Some initial takeaways (which in my view certain people are either deliberately ignoring or misreporting). No POD, the conviction rate is not 5%– the conviction rate is 67% for penetrative offenses, and 84% for non-penetrative (conctact) offenses. If…

E. Samuel, An Historical Account of the British Army: And of the Law Military, as Declared by the Ancient and Modern Statutes, and Articles of War for Its Government with a Free Commentary on the Mutiny Act, and the Rules and Articles of War; Illustrated by Various Decisions of Courts Martial, (1816).

There are two items from Canada that are worth the read. Marie Deschamps, C.C. Ad.E., External Review Authority, External Review into Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Harassment in the Canadian Armed Forces, March 27, 2015. Under the standard articulated by Criminal Code and the Supreme Court of Canada, genuine consent may be communicated by word or…

No. 15-0330/AR. U.S. v. Kenneth A.R. Pinkela. CCA 20120649. On consideration of the petition for grant of review of the decision of the United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals, it is ordered that said petition is hereby granted on the following issue: WHETHER THE EVIDENCE WAS LEGALLY SUFFICIENT TO FIND BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT…