Articles Posted in UCMJ

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan’s defense attorney skirmished with Army commanders Wednesday over the timing of a sanity examination for the Fort Hood gunman, saying that his client is still too medically impaired to participate. So begins a piece in the Dallas News. What’s the flaw. There is no judge that attorney Galligan can go to…

United States v. Story. Here the issue is two-fold: what is the response when the members want to call a witness, and what is permissible on appeal to demonstrate prejudice. ACCA found error in the military judge denying the members an opportunity to call a witness. On appeal, ACCA found that documents submitted by appellate…

The Navy’s rule forcing sailors to “promptly” tell their commanding officers if they have been arrested for an off-base drunken-driving violation is unconstitutional, the Navy and Marine Corps’s highest military judges have ruled. And so begins a Navy Times article on United States v. Serianne. I have posted before about the new DoD regulation that…

No, this isn’t an advert for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, or any other. It’s a reminder that Air Force Instruction 36-2903, Dress and Personal Appearance, states “Excessive tattoos and brands will not be exposed or visible while in uniform.” Excessive is defined as any tattoo/brands exceeding one-quarter of the exposed body part and those above…

I have posted in connection with some comments about Major Hasan and his desire to have patients prosecuted at court-martial for war crimes and other offenses while deployed to Iraq. Major Hasan’s war crimes trial requests, 17 November 2009. The issue has gained new attention with the recent mass shootings at Fort Hood that killed…

Whenever I talk about court-room lawyering I always emphasize that the person must first be themself and not try to become someone they aren’t. Once you decide who you are, your “style,” and how you will present, then you can take the other tools of advocacy and adapt them to your personality and form of…

Thanks to CAAFLog there is news about the military mandatory release program imposed on those convicted and sentenced at court-martial. Judge Rogers of the 10th Circuit has found the program to be legal and constitutional, in Huschak v. Gray, 642 F. Supp. 2d 1268 (D. Kan. 2009). (United States v. Huschak, ACM 35382 (A. F.…

Here is a good site for information about Stolen Valor Act issues. Web Site Aims to Uncover Fakers in Fatigues Reportstolenvalor.org. Those on active duty can be sent to court-martial for prosecution under the UCMJ.

I’ve posted before about different cases where a service-member or civilian have “invented” their military career. Two recent examples are here and here. Now there’s another. Military.com reports that a retired senior chief petty officer appears to have fabricated his presence in USS COLE when the ship was attacked. In early November, retired Senior Chief…

The “rule of lenity” “requires ambiguous criminal laws to be interpreted in favor of the defendants subjected to them.” From Levin, Daniel and Stewart, Nathaniel, Wither the Rule of Lenity, Engage, November 16, 2009. This is a claim or objection I have used from time to time, not always successfully. Typically I’m using it as…