Thanks to LawProfsBlog here is a link to an interesting article: Regulating the Plea-Bargaining Market: From Caveat Emptor to Consumer Protection Stephanos Bibas, University of Pennsylvania Law School, U of Penn Law School, Public Law Research Paper No. 10-33, California Law Review, Vol. 99, Forthcoming Abstract: Padilla v. Kentucky was…
For all of the criticisms of military justice and the UCMJ, you don’t have this at court-martial as tipped by Sentencing Law & Policy blog. Cargill, a federal public defender, was perturbed by a rarely discussed U.S. court rule that critics say conflicts with the presumption of judicial openness. In…
Leaks from Members (or sometimes military judges) occasionally give rise to appellate litigation. Here is an interesting piece on federal evidence review: Motion for new trial on criminal extortion and bribery case denied, despite juror’s statement to newspaper after the verdict that because the defendants did not testify, the juror…
Air Force Times reports: A U.S. soldier was taken into custody after an Afghan detainee was found dead in his cell, apparently from a gunshot wound, NATO said in a statement Tuesday night. Military.com reports: An American Soldier was charged Wednesday with killing two fellow U.S. troops and wounding a…
World Net Daily quotes Neal Puckett as follows: He confirmed to WND that there will be new directions for the defense, but could not elaborate. "All I can really say is the case is going to be handled differently from here on out," he said. He said "all possible courses…
Federal Evidence Review references: In conspiracy and arson trial, reversing and remanding when trial court failed "to make adequate inquiries regarding news stories" that appeared during deliberations and their impact on juror’s deliberations; the judge erroneously failed to explore "whether any juror heard any of the information" and its impact…
Here SignOn San Diego reports the unusual situation of public release of pretrial agreement “discussions.” The Coast Guardsman piloting the boat that killed 8-year-old Anthony DeWeese might have served a year or less in prison if his lawyers had pursued a plea deal dangled by the prosecution. It is unclear…
MAJ Hasan’s UCMJ Article 32 hearing and likely court-martial is drawing and will continue to draw lots of attention — of course, duh. But just as we have seen in other high profile cases there are opportunities for what I call teachable moments. Here are two from the item posted…
I posted before about the CO of USS OHIO being detached for cause and the number of Navy CO’s DFC’d this year. Now Navy Times has obtained a copy of documents related this case which appears to include a copy of the command investigation. The arrival of a birthday card…
Here is a link to the military judge’s sentencing statement in the case of Canadian Captain Semrau. Obviously it is notable because the practice is for the judge to provide a reasons for sentencing, but secondly is the reliance on United States v. Maynulet and United States v. Horne (LEXIS…