Court-Martial Trial Practice

Anything by Prof. Leo is well worth the read. Leo on Interrogation Contamination Richard A. Leo (University of San Francisco – School of Law) has posted Why Interrogation Contamination Occurs (Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The problem of police interrogation contamination (disclosing or leaking of non-public facts)…

Occasionally the prosecution wants to use court records, There is an evidentiary exception that can apply. But, what about the Confrontation Clause? Federalevidence review has a post on that. Eighth Circuit reverses conviction for being an accessory after the fact by assisting another (Clark) in avoiding apprehension for committing a murder based on Confrontation Clause…

The general rule is that you are stuck with the record on appeal and can’t supplement it with new or additional facts. There are however some limited exceptions to the general rule for items of appellate judicial notice. Here is a short piece discussing some of the exceptions. An example from military appeals: The ACCA…

The various breath test instruments used by the military and civilian police are subject to challenge, for a number of reasons. Here’s a “report” about the Intoxilyzer 8000 courtesy of PS.

Prosecutors ask CID, NCIS, OSI, CGIS agents all the time why they didn’t believe the accused in the interrogation. The answer often is a variant of, “he was nervous.” Yeah, right. First they are told and usually escorted to the LE office. The escort won’t tell them why or what’s going on. They then have…

http://www.denverda.org/dna/DNA_Nonhuman.htm Thanks to BW, who shall remain otherwise anonymous.

The Rule in Queen Caroline’s case is inconsistent with the present intent of Mil. R. Avid. 613(b). But the rule is still applied (IMHE) in courts-martials and in a split of federal circuits. We may be headed back in time. Schaffzin on the Return of the Rule in Queen Caroline’s Case Katharine Traylor Schaffzin (University…

Opinions, published and unpublished. A nice discussion of judicial opinions in military cases can be found at United States v. Clifton, 35 M.J. 79 (C.M.A. 1992).

We’ve seen some recent cases discussing the issue of over zealous argument by trial counsel on the merits. What to do, oh what to do. How about object! And, Although not essential to the decision in this case, another matter raised by trial and appellate defense counsel warrants comment. In argument prior to sentence, trial…

NATIONAL CLEARINGHOUSE FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & THE LAW at Stetson University College of Law “SHARING KNOWLEDGE TO PROMOTE JUSTICE” The relationship between law and science and technology has been called both an essential alliance and a reluctant embrace, Sheila Jasanoff, Science at the Bar: Law, Science and Technology in America (1996). Judges, lawyers, scientists and…