O’Keeffe, Eamonn (2016) ““Such Want of Gentlemanly Conduct:” The General Court Martial of Lieutenant John de Hertel,” Canadian Military History: Vol. 25: Iss. 2, Article 2. <Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol25/iss2/2> At this court-martial of a junior officer, the British Army assembled 15 more senior officers to serve as the “jury” in…
Articles Posted in Worth the Read
A military judge’s disqualification–always an issue?
The Army Court of Criminal Appeals has raised an interesting question and important reminder in United States v. Keen, decided 20 October 2016. The court itself specified the following issue. WHETHER THE MILITARY JUDGE ACTED AS COUNSEL OR LEGAL OFFICER AS TO ANY OFFENSE CHARGED OR IN APPELLANT’S CASE GENERALLY…
Medical privileges overseas-WorthTheRead
We have complications in CONUS trials with doctor-patient privileges. Overseas, host nation laws can make an already complex issue more difficult to navigate. COL (former military judge) Masterson discusses the administrative and legal difficulties under the NATO SOFA. Doctor-Patient Privilege Rules Overseas, ARMY LAW. August 2016.
Nope, apparently not looking for Bergdahl the Army says
Sara Koenig, Was Anyone Killed Looking for Bowe Bergdahl? Some Hard Evidence at Long Last, 6 October 2016. After nearly a year of waiting, [Serial has] finally received the Army’s internal investigations into the 2009 deaths of six soldiers from Bowe Bergdahl’s unit: MW, CB, KC, MM, DA and MM. None of…
Sentence Relief-Worth the Read
This article showed that the vast majority of court-martial sentences are affirmed by AFCCA. On the rare occasion when sentence relief was granted, it was usually not based on factual sufficiency or sentence appropriateness. While there has been some fluctuation in how often AFCCA grants sentence relief, it is minimal…
Junk Science Reigns
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.”…
Judicial umpiring-WTR
Brett M. Kavanaugh, The Judge as Umpire: Ten Principles, 65 Cath. U. L. Rev. 683 (2016). First, and most obviously, a good judge, like a good umpire, cannot act as a partisan. Fifth, at the same time, to be a good judge and a good umpire you have to possess…
Worth the read about false confessions and prosecutorial power
Do you have enough to read, well here’s more. In sum, the Miranda decision has, at best, had little or no impact on the risks of false confession and wrongful conviction. At worst, the influence of police on Miranda procedures and subsequent litigation has actually made things worse for defendants.…
Military Law Review-WTR
There are a couple of interesting items in Vol. 224, MIL. L. REV. MILITARY JUSTICE INCOMPETENCE OVER COMPETENCY DETERMINATIONS, by Major David C. Lai. This is relevant to me because I have an appellate case where there are issues with the client’s current competency and there were at trial. ALWAYS…
Worth the Read on military prosecutors
A friend brought to my attention this little item for our weekend reading. NOTES: PROSECUTORIAL POWER AND THE LEGITIMACY OF THE MILITARY JUSTICE SYSTEM. 123 HARVARD L. REV. 937 (2010). Is the concluding paragraph correct? The modern military justice system suggests an alternative model of institutional design: it emerged as a…