court-martial Tag Archives — Page 17 of 60 — Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog

Curses, now what

June 28, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Gannet News While he still vacillates between regret and indignity over what happened in Iraq, he has given up thoughts of going back to retrieve a separate bundle of money that he says he found and buried in the sands — and Army investigators never discovered.

Army Times reports:

Less than two years ago, Earl Coffey stood on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico, a broken man, holding his Army uniform, photos and military medals in his hands.

The son of Kentucky coal miners, Coffey had watched his life unravel after his theft of a dictator’s desert treasure became an almost biblical curse — running through his hands like sand, landing him in prison and sending him on a downward spiral of homelessness, divorce and drug addiction.

With nothing left, Coffey tossed the remnants of his 13-year Army career into the surf — and began a long walk home to the Appalachian mountains of Harlan County, Ky. . .

Coffey, 36, has since rebuilt a quiet life among the coal mines that he escaped by joining the Army — only to become one of seven U.S. soldiers convicted in 2003 of “looting and pillaging” for his part in stealing the $586,000 in cash he found in one of Saddam Hussein’s bombed-out Iraqi palaces.

Remember, collateral consequences remember

June 27, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

On Wednesday, ACCA will hear oral argument in United States v. Vargaspuentas, No. ARMY 20091096, on these three interesting issues:

I. WHETHER APPELLANT’S TRIAL DEFENSE COUNSEL INFORMED HIM HIS GUILTY PLEA MIGHT RESULT IN DEPORTATION.

II. WHETHER COUNSEL’S ADVICE REGARDING DEPORTATION WAS INEFFECTIVE. SEE PADILLA V. KENTUCKY, 08-651 (2010); STRICKLAND V. WASHINGTON, 466 U.S. 668 (1984); HILL V. LOCKHART, 474 U.S. 52 (1985).

Fort Gillem shooting update 5

June 26, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Among others, the Virgin Islands Daily News reports that:

U.S. Army officials have charged a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserves, a St. Croix native, with the premeditated murder of his supervisor, who was shot multiple times last week at Fort Gillem in Georgia, where the two men were stationed. . . .

A pretrial confinement hearing held Friday determined Valmont will remain in pretrial confinement.

Afghan and foreign AWOLs update 5

June 25, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Fox News reports that:

At least 11 of the 17 members of the Afghan military who went AWOL from an Air Force base in Texas and are considered deserters by their nation have turned up in the exact place you’d expect to find them in the year 2010.

They’re on Facebook. . . .

Graner decided

June 25, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

CAAF has decided United States v. Graner. Graner loses.

We granted review in this Abu Ghraib case to determine whether the military judge abused his discretion in (1) refusing to compel the Government to produce certain memoranda requested by the defense; (2) excluding the testimony of, and an e-mail
from, Major Ponce; and (3) limiting the testimony of a defense expert witness. We hold that the military judge did not abuse his discretion in any of these decisions and affirm the judgment of the United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA).

Humor in military lawyering

June 25, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Army Board for Correction of Military Records, here we come. Actually, there’s probably no requirement to start there I suppose.

The OCWeekly reports that:

Taitz has also been pining for recently sacked U.S. general Stanley McChrystal to give her a call. She says that McCrystal is a "perfect plaintiff to expose Obama’s lack of legitimacy," and that he "needs to file a legal action, seeking compensations, as he was pressured to resign by one who is illegally occupying the position of the commander in chief."

Blood spatter expert

June 24, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

CAAF has decided United States v. Lloyd, in a 3-2 decision. The majority determined that the defense had not sufficiently shown the need for a blood spatter expert. Chief Judge Effron writing for himself and Judge Baker dissented. I see this as a fact based decision and not stating any new law.

Michigan v. Bryant

June 24, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Professor Friedman alerts that two amicus briefs have been filed. The link to his brief does not work, but the one to NACDL does. As a reminder the QP is:

Whether statements to investigating police officers accusing someone of a crime and describing the offense after it has been completed fall outside the scope of the Confrontation Clause merely because the suspect remains at large or the declarant has been injure

A cautionary tale

June 24, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Here is a posting on Above the Law about a Marine officer attending law school, and his Marine Corps future. It’s not clear if he’s there as a LEP’er. But I suspect he’s on his way to being a leper in a number of communities.

It’s a Scarlet Letter tale for the digital age. A Georgetown law student’s life has completely unraveled. His way of dealing with losing his wife, his mistress, his supposed baby, his military assignment, and good standing at Georgetown Law School? A public confession on Facebook.

Up periscope

June 23, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Army Times reports that:

Three officers given letters of reprimand for the deadly July 13, 2008, battle in Wanat, Afghanistan, have been exonerated and the letters withdrawn, the Army announced June 23.

Gen. Charles Campbell, who recently relinquished command of Forces Command and is preparing to retire, “withdrew, cancelled and annulled” the adverse administrative actions after reviewing findings from a Central Command-directed investigation and hearing from the three officers themselves.