Reasonable doubt is the fundamental pillar protecting the rights of accused service members in a court martial. It is a legal standard that ensures a fair and just process and safeguards against the potential for wrongful convictions. The prosecutor must prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt, a crucial safeguard…
Two recent decisions of CAAF condone unlawful or bad practices when OSI, CID, NCIS, and CGIS search cellphones; United States v. Shields and United States v. Lattin. As a result, the MCIOs are unlikely to change their unlawful or bad practices. More than sloppy police work gets two passes because…
My argument is no, and as military defense lawyers, this is our position at a court-martial trial held under the UCMJ. In State v. Terrance Police, 2022 Conn. LEXIS 123 (May 10, 2022), the issue was whether “touch DNA” was good enough for probable cause to get an arrest warrant.…
Prof. Colin Miller brings, The Admissibility of Statements Made to Doctors Consulted For the Purpose of Enabling Him/Her to Testify Federal Rule of Evidence 803(4) provides an exception the rule against hearsay for A statement that: (A) is made for — and is reasonably pertinent to — medical diagnosis or treatment; and (B) describes…
Cheng & Mannion on Forensic Reports and the Confrontation Clause By CrimProf BlogEditor Share Edward K. Cheng and Cara Mannion (Vanderbilt Law School and affiliation not provided to SSRN) have posted Unravelling Williams v. Illinois (NYU Law Review Online) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Forensics are a staple of modern criminal trials, yet what restrictions…
Like it or not, consistent or not consistent with long-held notions of justice, a military member accused of a sexual assault is presumed guilty. Sure command and others will say you are going to get a fair hearing and trial, but that’s not reality. Over 100 Law Professors, Others Call…
We have a new book worth the read to litigators facing child assault allegations with Shaken Baby Syndrome “evidence.” Randy Papetti, The Forensic Unreliability of the Shaken Baby Syndrome: The Book. Arizona trial attorney Randy Papetti has brought nearly 20 years of experience and research to his valuable new analysis…
As we see frequently, texts and messages on cellphones can be important evidence in a case. Most of the time the MCIO’s merely got the CW to provide a screenshot and otherwise cherry-pick what they want to take as evidence in the beginning. Of course the cherry-picking is in favor…
As an investigative tool, DNA has been a powerful weapon in identifying or confirming who committed a crime. But the value of DNA evidence is overshadowed by regular stories of corruption, incompetence, and flawed interpretation. It’s, for this reason, I never accept the DNA results as golden for the prosecution…
so starts a post at wrongfulconvictionsblog–Junk Science Reigns ____ So Much for True Science in the Courtroom. [W]hen the National Academy of Sciences report Forensic Science in the United States; A Path Forward was published people thought we might see a true effort to address “junk science being used to convict innocent people.”…