Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog

Tales of the Tipsy Coachman: Being Right for the Wrong Reason – The Tipsy Coachman is Alive and Well and Living in Florida

Ooops. When you object to something you are asking that the members not hear a piece of testimony or see a piece of evidence–right? Right? So why then do you let the Trial Counsel (or defense counsel) discuss that with the military judge in front of the members? I see…

From Prof. Doug Berman’s excellent Sentencing Law & Policy. Four+ years ago as noted in this post, the US Supreme Court issued a short per curiam summary reversals in Grady v. North Carolina, No. 14-593 (S. Ct. March 30, 2015) (available here), in which the Court clarified and confirmed that the Fourth Amendment is applicable…

A couple of interesting items from John Wesley Hall’s excellent Fourth Amendment blog. Without something to go on, the court declines to ascribe a supposed error in an address as a mere typo. Moreover, the affidavit fails to provide any nexus to defendant and the place to be searched, and…

Rossmo, Kim and Pollock, Joycelyn, Confirmation Bias and Other Systemic Causes of Wrongful Convictions: A Sentinel Events Perspective (June 28, 2019). Northeastern University Law Review, Vol. 11, No. 2, 2019. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3413922. Tokson, Matthew J., The Emerging Principles of Fourth Amendment Privacy (July 23, 2019). George Washington Law Review,…

Going through some old files I came across the Excerpts from a letter which the Powell Committee recommended The Judge Advocate General of the Army send to officers newly appointed as general court-martial convening authorities. (Committee on the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Good Order and Discipline in the Army:…

Here is something from good friend Don Rehkopf as a reminder to defense counsel. 1)   For anyone representing a client with Art. 120, offenses that will trigger a Dismissal or DD upon conviction; or 2)   Anyone representing a client where there may be a chance of being sentenced to a Dismissal or…

Confirmation Bias and Other Systemic Causes of Wrongful Convictions: A Sentinel Events Perspective, By D. Kim Rossmo and Joycelyn M. Pollock. Their study suggests that 37% of wrongful convictions result from confirmation bias. Table 1: Causal Factors (≥ 10) Causal Factor Confirmation bias 37 Tunnel vision 24 High-profile crime/media attention…

Defense counsel: You have an enlisted client who is retirement eligible: E-6 to E-9. What is their retirement check, assuming they are in a position to retire after trial? Before you answer, please read 10 U. S. C. 1407, especially para. (f). Now–E-8 reduced to E-4, what is the retired pay? My…

Once again it is the duty of the defense counsel to police the prosecutors not for the prosecutors to police themselves. That is one of the conclusions from the new decision—United States v. Voorhees, https://www.armfor.uscourts.gov/newcaaf/opinions/2018OctTerm/180372.pdf, just decided by the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. In Voorhees,…