Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog

A former Army soldier who claims he put child pornography on his cell phone to help law enforcement catch those who produced the images was sentenced Monday to 18 months in federal prison. www.azstarnet.com

According to an alarming new report, 75 percent of young people ages 17 to 24 are unable to enlist in the military because they fail to graduate high school, have a criminal record, or are physically unfit. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and some of America’s top retired military…

If you are following the military officer involvement in the “birther” challenges to President Obama, you will be aware of the status of the litigation.  But what about this: Army recommends ‘birther’ for promotion Army ‘birther’ Major Stefan F. Cook gets a job at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Both items are…

The Military Reporters & Editors website is pointing to a release by Missionreadiness.org, which says: According to an alarming new report, 75 percent of young people ages 17 to 24 are unable to enlist in the military because they fail to graduate high school, have a criminal record, or are…

CAAFLog is reporting that CAAF has granted the following issue in United States v. Blazier. Whether, in light of Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004), Appellant was denied meaningful cross-examination of government witnesses in violation of his Sixth Amendment right of confrontation when the military judge did not compel…

A couple of new opinions from NMCCA address issues related to CP prosecutions. United States v. Jones, III, has this issue: WHETHER THE MILITARY JUDGE ERRED BY DENYING APPELLANT THE OPPORTUNITY TO REVIEW THE EVIDENCE BEFORE HE PLED GUILTY AND WHETHER, IN LIGHT OF THAT DENIAL, APPELLANT’S PLEA WAS PROVIDENT.…

Here’s a case discussing access to mental health records of a primary prosecution witness. This was a due process and confrontation case.  Here, as is not an infrequent issue, the prosecution succeeded in having damaging information about their witness excluded.  The prosecution then went on to give an “incomplete and…

A new Air Force Law Review is online, as well as a new The Reporter. MILITARY CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS AND THE STORED COMMUNICATIONS ACT, by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Dukes, Jr., USAFR & Lieutenant Colonel Albert C. Rees, Jr., USAFR. AN OPEN LETTER TO DEFENSE COUNSEL: Protecting Yourself Against IAC Claims, by…

Jansen.  A sentence comparison case among co-accused’s.  The case is of note to trial practitioners and SJA’s for it’s “discussion” of what is or isn’t a “closely related” case, and whether sentence disparity should be addressed with the CA post-trial. Principi.  A CP case where the prosecution charged for contingencies…

Here is the footnote that should be of concern to all defense counsel, from United States v. Regaladozambrano, just decided. While the Court has declined to brand Capt [O’s] post-trial legal representation of the appellant as deficient, that restraint is exercised only due to the lack of any evidence of…