The NMCCA decided United States v. Kmiecik on 17 May 2018. Kmiecik challenges the military judge’s decision to admit “a signed acknowledgment from the appellant that he understood the Marine Corps’ policy concerning the illegal use of drugs[,]” during sentencing. For trial counsel and judges, and defense counsel. The military judge did not articulate his…
Captain Milott has an interesting article about the use and interpretation of emojis and emoticons in criminal trials when they are part of a text, email, or some other social media message. Many sexual assault courts-martial involve texts and emails between the complaining witness and a suspect–is there a damaging…
Lagano, et al, The Air Force SVC Program: The First Five Years, 44(3) The Reporter 31 (2017). We begin by examining the creation of the SVC program within the Air Force, the expansion of victims’ counsel programs throughout the Department of Defense (DoD), and the growing list of victims’ rights. In the second part of this…
The number of exonerations involving wrongdoing by police, prosecutors and other government workers set a record last year, according to a report released on Wednesday. The findings are part of a larger trend that reflects America’s more aggressive attempts to expose and understand the causes of wrongful convictions. The new…
Here’s an interesting timeline I came across when reading about the different reasons people lie about sexual assault. International Timeline
In general, motive can be described as an inward emotion, passion, or feeling in a person which “is likely to lead” that person to do an “appropriate act” as “an outlet” for this emotion. See J. Wigmore, A Treatise on the Anglo-American System of Evidence in Trials at Common Law…
If you have been falsely accused of a sexual offense you are not alone. I agree and understand that does not make your time in the hot seat happy, comfortable, or certain the truth will out. Here is an article about sexual offense investigation and prosecution in the U.K. U.S.…
Some may remember United States v. Denedo, where the appellant won at the Supreme Court, but then his appellate lawyer failed to file a petition to CAAF in time–out of court, done, no relief. So here’s an interesting Coast Guard case–United States v. Reese III. Reese filed a petition for…
“An order requiring the performance of a military duty or act may be inferred to be lawful and it is disobeyed at the peril of the subordinate. This inference does not apply to a patently illegal order, such as one that directs the commission of a crime.” The accused has…
I always tell clients that the specific sex offender registration requirements are complicated and depend on state law. Here’s a reason why. In New York a defendant can be forced to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life based on accusations a jury rejected. So the…