A 26-year Camp Lejeune Marine master gunnery sergeant pleaded guilty during court-martial proceedings to taking money from three contractors while deployed to Iraq in 2005, according to Marine officials.
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Ex-soldier gets 5 life sentences Iraqi deaths
September 17, 2009
The Supreme Court: Past and Prologue A Look at 2008 and October 2009 Terms
10:30 am – 7:00 pm, Cato Conference
To celebrate Constitution Day and the publication of the eighth volume of the annual Cato Supreme Court Review.
DC Conference on the SCOTUS certiorari process
The Yale Law School Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic and The Yale Law Journal Online, the forthcoming online platform of The Yale Law Journal, will host a half-day conference, "Important Questions of Federal Law": Assessing the Supreme Court’s Case Selection Process, on September 18, 2009, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The conference will consider the nature and causes of changes in the Supreme Court’s docket in recent years, as well as suggestions for reform of the certiorari process. The conference is made possible by the generous support of the Oscar M. Ruebhausen Fund.
The government [just barely] showed that the drug dog and the handler were "well qualified" (Illinois v. Caballes). While the dog was certified through 2006, it was not certified since, but its general reliability was enough. [Essentially, the handler can make the dog qualify by testifying to a good track record.] United States v. Colon-Arenas, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77953 (N.D. Ind. August 25, 2009).
/tip fourthamendment.com.
The Air Force says an Alaska-based airman has been sentenced to 90 days confinement and 90 days hard labor for malingering — intentionally hurting oneself to avoid deployment.
Army Times, 3 September 2009.
Former Petty Officer 3rd Class Joseph Rocha says he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after being physically and sexually abused by fellow sailors over a two-year period. But after a Navy investigation into widespread hazing allegations within the unit, the only sailor discharged was Rocha, because he also admitted that he is gay.
Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, September 5, 2009.
TOM ROEDER, THE GAZETTE
An Air Force Academy major on trial this week for rape has pleaded guilty to several related crimes.
Maj. Barry N. Nixon is disputing the rape claim brought by a girl over an assault she says occurred five years ago in Germany. A court-martial panel was hearing arguments in that case earlier today.
Nixon has pleaded guilty to indecent acts upon a child and two assault counts — crimes that could bring a maximum of 14 years in prison and discharge from the Air Force.
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes, Mideast edition, Thursday, September 3, 2009
RELATED STORIES:
For those who served at Navy Appellate Defense during the 1990’s (or I suppose Appellate Government, or Code 40, or Code 20, or NMCCA, oops and CAAF), the case United States v. Zander, 48 M.J. 558(N.M. Ct. Crim. App. 1997), rev. denied 48 M.J. 18 (C.A.A.F. 1997), will mean something.
So, here are his most recent exploits.
Jeffrey Zander didn’t last long as the executive director of the Redwood Region Economic Development Commission (RREDC). He was hired in October 2008. By the following January, he had been placed on paid administrative leave. Four months later, in May of this year, he resigned, leaving behind a board of directors so cowed by the threat of litigation that most refuse to discuss the basics of his tenure — even with each other.
Here is a commentary from Prof. Colin Miller on his blog I love to read about Wuterich. He begins:
All but two states have some type of reporter's privilege. Similarly, most federal courts have recognized some type of reporter's privilege as well. But what about military courts? Well, to this point, they haven't recognized a reporter's privilege, and that did not change with the recent opinion of the United States Navy-Marine Corps of Criminal Appeals in United States v. Wuterich, 2009 WL 2730890 (N.M.Ct.Crim.App. 2009).
Prof. Miller concludes:
Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog
