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Training Center Holding Special Court Martial

September 22, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Is the title of an article in the Cape May County Herald, by Jack Fichter

CAPE MAY- A special court martial was scheduled for Tuesday Sept. 22 for Petty Officer Francisco Thompson who is charged with violating 14 punitive Articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
The hearing was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. but was delayed until 1 p.m. as attorneys discussed a motion, according to Coast Guard spokesperson Chief Petty Officer Veronica Bandrowski.

Thompson is an E5 Petty Officer Second Class, Aviation Maintenance Mechanic. The charges involve consensual sex with a recruit, according to Bandrowski.

NMCCA RSS feed.

September 21, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

NMCCA now has an RSS feed capability on their Opinions page. This allows you to set up in your browser, or if you wish to receive the feed in your Outlook. The benefit to your Outlook is that you get fairly quick notice of a new posting without having to check the website. You will still have to go to the website to read the case, but you get an alert. On that note, NMCCA has issued four new opinions.

United States v. Wagoner. “One liner.”

United States v. Nunes, III. “One liner.”

Philly Judge Orders Taming of the Lawyers

September 21, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

That is the title of an article by Ashby Jones, on the Wall St. Journal Law Blog, pour encourager les autres.

And do as adversaries do in law, Strive mightily but eat and drink as friends.
— From William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew

We wonder, after reading this admonition from the Bard, just how many lawyers these days manage to live up to it. Lawyers, let’s toss it over to you. Give a quick mental rundown of your opposing counsel and tally up the number of those people with whom you’d “eat and drink as friends.” We’re betting it’s few, if any.

Putting aside the applicability of the line to modern-day practice, it nevertheless inspired a federal judge in Philadelphia, Gene E.K. Pratter, to rule recently that, as part of a lesson in civility, two opposing lawyers must sit down and have a meal together. Click here for the story, from the Philly Legal Intelligencer.

Trust game leaves 1 dead, 3 in jail

September 21, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Is the title of an article by Trista Talton – Staff writer, Marine Corps Times.
Posted : Monday Sep 21, 2009 6:26:12 EDT

It was supposed to be a game.

But now Nelson, 25, will spend the next eight years in prison for killing Malone with an accidental gunshot to the forehead — the result of a game gone terribly wrong, a game he and his fellow members of 2nd section, Scout Platoon, 2nd Tank Battalion, called “Trust.”

Phony War Hero Faces Court-Martial

September 21, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Reads a CBS News piece from SABILLASVILLE, Md., Sept. 21, 2009

Marine who Toured U.S. Touting Heroics in Afghanistan Exposed as Fraud

In this July 22, 2008 photo, U.S. Marine Sgt. David Budwah is shown during a visit with children at Camp West Mar in Sabillasville, Md. (AP Photo/Herald-Mail, Yvette May)

Navy won’t confirm any punishment in hazing scandal

September 20, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

That’s the headline from an article By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes, Mideast edition, Sunday, September 20, 2009

WASHINGTON — Two years after naval investigators uncovered a hazing scandal inside a Bahrain-based canine unit, including numerous cases of violent attacks and sex crimes, officials can’t say whether anyone was ever disciplined or demoted.

Naval investigators have confirmed 93 instances of hazing within the Bahrain Military Working Dogs Division. One sailor, who several times was forced to simulate oral sex on other men, was later kicked out of the Navy for being gay. Another committed suicide after being charged with failing to stop the abuse.

But naval officials say that as far as they are concerned, the case is closed, an embarrassing one-time problem that is now completely in the past.

Government overcharging.

September 18, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

I posted an earlier decision of NMCCA about overcharging in CP cases.

NMCCA has issued a decision in United States v. Whelihan, on the same issue. No sentence relief because the MJ did do a United States v. Quiroz, 55 M.J. 334 (C.A.A.F. 2001) analysis.

NMCCA has also issued a decision in United States v. Wilson. No surprises here a factual sufficiency case in which the prosecution concedes one of three sufficiency claims.

September Army Lawyer

September 18, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

There are two MJ related articles in the September issue.

A Specialized Society: Speech Offenses in the Military.

Prosecuting an HIV-Related Crime in a Military Court-Martial: A Primer.

Police theft.

September 18, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Airman Charged With Thefts From Police

September 18, 2009, Tulsa World

TULSA, Okla. — Several electronic gadgets that were stolen from the Tulsa Police Department were recovered when officers investigated a member of the military who was assigned to the agency’s Special Investigations Division, police said.

This resonated with me a little because I had a case from this base some years ago where the thefts went the other way around – SF police to the local police. Where they getting the stolen items back?

Calley and Chessani.

September 17, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Here is an interesting commentary on:

Justice lag

Lt Col Jeffrey Chessani, a Marine Corps officer charged with failing to report or investigate the killings in Haditha, photographed at Camp Pendleton in June 2008. Charges against Chessani – and against six of the other seven men facing courts-martials – have since been dropped. Denis Poroy / AP