Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog

CNN reports, See also, https://connectingvets.radio.com/articles/retired-army-general-james-grazioplene-stand-trial-rape-charges-army-dismissed https://taskandpurpose.com/news/retired-army-general-rape-charges Retired Army Maj. Gen. James Grazioplene on Wednesday admitted to sexually abusing his then-teenage daughter in the 1980s, in exchange for a suspension of his sentence. His daughter, Jennifer Elmore, turned 49 on Wednesday. Grazioplene pleaded guilty in a Prince William County, Virginia, circuit…

Here is a link to Dave Schlueter and Lisa Schenk’s White Paper AMERICAN MILITARY JUSTICE: RETAINING THE COMMANDER’S AUTHORITY TO ENFORCE DISCIPLINE AND JUSTICE. [https://www.court-martial-ucmj.com/white-paper-on-military-justice-reforms-2020-w-app/] In summary, [they] believe that: • Commanders play a critical and necessary role in the American military justice system; • Transferring prosecutorial discretion from commanders…

From CrimProf Blog,  Editor: Kevin Cole, Univ. of San Diego School of Law Friday, July 3, 2020 Sundby on Interrogation Law By CrimProf BlogEditor  Share Scott E. Sundby (University of Miami School of Law) has posted The Court and the Suspect: Human Frailty, the Calculating Criminal, and the Penitent in the Interrogation Room (Washington…

We know that some people lie about being sexually assaulted. We know that one of the reasons–motives–or as psychologists say “the secondary gain,” is to protect a marriage or relationship. We know that some women are like men, they cheat on their spouse. Yet investigators often ignore these knowns–in following…

What happened after—trial, CCA review, and in the case below at CAAF. From time to time I find it interesting to follow habeas cases involving a military petitioner. So, here is  Santucci v. Commandant, No. 19-3116-JWL (D.C. Kan. May 26, 2020). The ACCA decision. The CAAF decision without opinion, is…

Akorede Omotayo, The Right to Silence–or the Presumption of Guilt. This is an interesting discussion from another country on something we are familiar with. It will be recalled that the right to silence formerly comprises the privilege against self-incrimination and the right not to have adverse inferences drawn from his…

United States v. Roberts, ACCA, May 2020. Click to access sd-roberts,%20dl.pdf Occasionally a TJAG will refer a subjurisdictional sentence case to the CCA, which is what happened here. ACCA looked a two issues: sufficiency of the evidence and post-trial delay. Note, under Article 69(d), UCMJ, the CCA can only review…

Colonel Rice was arrested for possession and distribution of CP. He was convicted in federal court and at court-martial. That is why we have a CAAF decision in United States v. Rice, __ M.J. ___ (C.A.A.F. May 21, 2020). I think part of the takeaway here is that the Government…

You all know that a client gets an automatic appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeals when the sentence is for more than one year and/or a punitive discharge. You all know that a case with a subjurisdictional sentence gets a legal review and can be petitioned to TJAG under…

John E. Reid & Associates agree that more is needed than a simple “I did it.” The reported interrogations of some of these suspects involved physical coercion, duress and outright torture. While the Supreme Court has consistently prohibited such interrogation practices, evidently the trial courts rejected the defendant’s claim that…