Trial and appellate lawyers often need to interpret what a statute means and how it applies to their case. “There are some great Supreme Court cases on statutory interpretation, including the famous discussion regarding whether a tomato is a fruit.” Says Prof. Tessa Dysart on Appellate Advocacy Blog. She is referring to…
On 12 October 2017, the CAAF granted petitions worthy of watching: No. 17-0556/AR. U.S. v. Joseph R. Armstrong. CCA 20150424. On consideration of the petition for grant of review of the decision of the United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals, it is ordered that said petition is hereby granted on the following…
At SimpleJustice blog (a blog worth following) there is a piece about Judge Kopf and a tweet which leads to a discussion of a prosecutors obligation to provide discovery to the defense. Let me start with some basics and two cases that prosecutors and defense lawyers know (or should know) well. In Brady…
It is common to obtain character and rehabilitation letters for a service-member at trial. There is an art to getting and using good letters. Rule 1, don’t have a letter (or testimony) in which the writer impeaches the verdict. “This is out of character,” or something to that effect is…
Yes, it is. In dissenting to the Coast Guard Court of Criminal Appeals majority opinion in United States v. Decker, the dissenting judge says: This is a vexing case; the kind that sexual assault prevention training seeks to avoid. I agree with the majority’s resolution of Assignment of Error III, and…
United States v. Campbell, decided by the Coast Guard Court of Criminal Appeals (9/17), presents a current look at United States v. Terlap and proper sentencing evidence. The Appellant “that the military judge admitted improper evidence in aggravation and testimony contradictory to the stipulation of fact.” During presentencing testimony, the…
Crowder’s next orders took him to Fort Yates, North Dakota, where the United States Army attempted to suppress the religious Ghost Dance movement. While stationed at Fort Yates, Crowder proved successful in his legal defense in three court-martial proceedings. His actions were noted by Army superiors and after being promoted…
https://www.court-martial.com/dubay-evidentiary-hearings-on-appeal.html
Whether or not a sentence is appropriate for the crime convicted of and the character of the person convicted is a frequent issue on appeal. Less frequently there is an issue of sentence disparity between co-actors or co-accuseds. The recent ACCA decision in United States v. Martinez (Sept. 2017), lays…
Under Article 62, UCMJ, the prosecution can appeal a military judge’s trial ruling under six circumstances. The two most common are: (A) An order or ruling of the military judge which terminates the proceedings with respect to a charge or specification. For example, a military judge dismisses a specification because…