UCMJ Court-Martial

You will face trial presumed guilty, and you will need an experienced fearless military defense lawyer on your side. Having defended hundreds of sexual assault cases along the spectrum from mere allegations to a fully contested members (jury) trial, I think I have a pretty good idea of what will and won’t work, and how to make the best out of the case.

That is not how it is supposed to be – that you are presumed guilty, but that is how Congress, commanders, and others have loaded the dice against you. How have they done that – they have made “believe the victim” to be the rule, and if you don’t you are a rape apologist and all kinds of bad names. I doubt that’s what most intended, but that is the potential effect. Unless you have a smoking gun confession of a false accusation, that is what you need a seasoned military defense lawyer to help you with.

If you say that you must believe the victim, unless there is a smoking gun or something, then you have established a presumption of guilt. The risk is that the presumption is then carried over into the courtroom.

Sure, the judge will tell them that the law presumes innocent and that you are to be presumed innocent. But that’s not the “orders” the court members have heard from Congress, commanders, trainers, and SA briefings. Remember the military is conditioned on obedience to orders. An effective fighting force cannot exist without obedience to orders. But there are situations where obedience does not serve the fight and in these situations – justice.

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