Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog
ACCA has issued a memorandum opinion in United States v. England, ARMY 20051170 (A. Ct. Crim. App. 10 September 2009).
[A]ppellant claims, inter alia, that (1) the military judge abused his discretion when he rejected her guilty plea; (2) appellant’s trial defense counsel were ineffective for calling Private (PVT) Charles Graner as a presentencing witness, in the alternative; and (3) information about an Article 15, UCMJ, was erroneously included in the staff judge advocate’s recommendation (SJAR).. . .
We find the first two assignments of error merit discussion but no relief. In addition, we find appellant’s third assignment of error is meritorious and will grant relief in our decretal paragraph. The remaining assignments of error are without merit.
The issue about rejection of the guilty plea may be somewhat interesting in light of CAAF’s recent grant of the issue in United States v. Diaz.