Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog

From CAAF Daily Journal of 2 November. No. 17-0507/AR. U.S. v. Orval W. Gould, Jr. CCA 20120727. On further consideration of Appellant’s certificate for review and the briefs of the parties, it is ordered that the first and second certified issues are answered in the negative, and therefore, no answer is provided to the third…

Andrew McCarthy writes in National Review about the recent NY terror case and President Trump’s off-the-cuff comments.  In a well-reasoned piece, he makes the following point. Yet, just as law-enforcement officials must respect the policy judgments of their political superiors, the political authority must respect the need for independent administration…

The USS Cole case judge Wednesday found the Marine general in charge of war court defense teams guilty of contempt for refusing to follow his orders and sentenced him to 21 days confinement and to pay a $1,000 fine. Air Force Col. Vance Spath also declared “null and void” a…

The Navy actions regarding the collisions of USS FITZGERALD and USS MCCAIN are starting to come more into focus. Here is a summary report from the Navy of some of the investigations. Here is the appointment of a Central Disposition Authority for disciplinary actions related to the collisions. A timeline…

Other circuits have held that a prisoner may file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus if his sentencing court has been dissolved.” Id. at 1093 (quoting Prost v. Anderson, 636 F.3d578, 588 (10th Cir. 2011) (explaining that, for military prisoners, “the resort to § 2241 is the norm…

From Prof. Berman at Sentencing Law & Policy. As reported in this press release, yesterday “Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Mike Lee (R-UT), Ted Cruz (R-TX), David Perdue (R-GA), and Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced legislation to strengthen criminal intent protections in federal law.”  Here is more from the press release: Their bill,…

I have noticed an increase is improper prosecution arguments over the last five years — connected I think to sexual assault cases mostly.  So here is an article of interest. Combating Prosecutor Misconduct in Closing Arguments, Oklahoma Law Review, Vol. 70, No. 3, Forthcoming From the abstract: Prosecutor misconduct in closing…

I’ve been told more than once that a person doesn’t make a false allegation of rape because they have been rejected by someone they are romantically interested in.  Such denials a batguano crazy.  Take this as an example. Following the verdict, Joanne Jakymec, chief Crown prosecutor for Wessex said: “Rebecca Palmer…

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 20, 2017 *Statement Regarding Military Justice*