Court-Martial Trial Practice BlogHere is a link to MARADMIN 062/10, Implementation of Case Management System for Courts-Martial.
Articles Tagged with court-martial
Spice prohibited, alcohol still good to go
A new order from Marine Corps Forces Command explicitly prohibits Marines from using a number of legal substances, including the herbal blend Spice, to achieve an altered state of consciousness or a druglike “high.” . . . The order, dated Jan. 27, bars Marines from using, possessing, attempting to possess, manufacturing or introducing onto military installations any of 10 substances that cause “legal highs.” Spice and salvia divinorum, including their many aliases, are at the top of the list.
JDNews.com reports.
According to MARFORPAC Order 5355.2, the substances known as Spice and Salvia Divinorum, while not listed as a controlled substance and highly accessible by service members, are hereby prohibited to all service members assigned within the MARFORPAC chain of command.
Quantico Brig suicide update
Capt. Michael A. Webb, 46, of Coto de Caza, Calif., was found unresponsive Sunday at 7:21 a.m. and was later pronounced dead at the scene, said Lt. Col. Roger Galbriath.
Webb had been placed under pretrial restraint as a result of the serious nature of his misconduct, because he failed to report to Quantico Marine Corps base when ordered, and because he was determined by an independent reviewing officer to be a flight risk.
InsideNoVA.com reports.
Case tools
Here’s a link to the DOJ list of principal FOIA contacts at federal agencies. I’ve added this as a link to my list of important sites.
Here’s a link to Mark Bennett, 16 Simple Rules for Better Jury Selection, 22(1) The Jury Expert, Jan. 2010. The highly entertaining Bennett has some interesting rules: The Shrek Rule, the Blind Date Rule, and the Beer Pong Rule. Behind the entertaining naming there is value in what he says, it’s just better than a boring ol’ textbook.
CAAF and Abu Ghraib
CAAF has decided two cases related to Abu Ghraib: United States v. Harman, and United States v. Smith.
The issue in Harman was factual sufficiency and the conviction and sentence was affirmed.
Appellant admitted to investigators that she took a new detainee, who had been placed on a box with a hood over his head, affixed his fingers with wires, and told him he would be electrocuted if he fell off the box. Appellant then photographed the victim who stood on the box for approximately an hour. Appellant admitted it was her idea to attach these wires, though military intelligence officials had not asked her or her colleagues to do so. Appellant thought this was permissible because “[w]e were not hurting him. It was not anything that bad.”
917 on steroids
In 1988 the Court of Military Appeals decided Griffith. I have used the case from time to time, not often successfully. But here is a recent example of what I call 917-on-steroids. I was pleasantly surprised that it was the judge who first raised the Griffith possibility.
R.C.M. 917 allows the defense to make a motion (or the MJ sua sponte) for a finding of not guilty at the close of the prosecution case or at the close of the evidence. I have just completed one of the infamous Army TCS/Reserve TDY cases. The E-8 accused was charged with conspiracy with two others to steal using fraudulent rent receipts, false official statement, theft of funds in excess of $500.00, and two specifications of fraud under Article 132, UCMJ. The standard or amount of evidence is so low that it is hard to obtain an R.C.M. 917 dismissal.
At the close of the prosecution case they had not introduced evidence of a delta between the amount alleged to have been stolen and that to what the accused would have been entitled, and had not introduced evidence that the travel claim vouchers were actually signed and submitted by the accused. Rather than grant a 917 motion, the judge allowed the prosecution time to rethink their case and potentially request they be allowed to reopen. After the interlude the judge kicked the can and referenced Griffith, again giving the prosecution more opportunity to reopen. The military judge is permitted to take such a course of action. See e.g. United States v. Ray, 26 M.J. 468 (C.M.A. 1988).
Up periscope – WE300110
The Army has charged an Illinois National Guardsman in Afghanistan with possession of child and adult pornography, and his family has come to his defense, arguing that he was the target of a personal vendetta.
Army Times reports. This is an ongoing case that started because the kids mother sent him a photograph of a child. In the photograph you can apparently see her crack.
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Up periscope
I have commented before about suicides and military justice, Military Suicides.
Marine Capt. Michael A. Webb has died of an apparent suicide in the brig at Quantico while awaiting court martial, a base public affairs officer said Tuesday.
Inisde NoVa reports.
Up periscope – 280110
Moral: when you go AWOL you can’t keep running if you run out of gas. As I drive I-95 I often see military convoys. It had not occurred to me that one or more of the drivers was in the process of going AWOL.
An Army private is in custody in Daytona Beach for being absent without leave from Fort Stewart in Georgia.
Sean Aaron Johnson was discovered Tuesday after the military Humvee he was driving ran out of gas on the side of Interstate 95.
Military, drugs, and sports – lots of tolerance
I have often wondered about how sports players get breaks regular people don’t. This applies within the military just as much as in the civilian community. Hypocrisy rains in the name of sports.
A Naval Academy football player is being permitted to continue as a midshipman even after testing positive for drug use, according to multiple sources and Web sites that have sprung up to criticize the decision.
Every day throughout the services young enlisted men and women are being disciplined, including court-martial, for drugs. Their lives are stained forever (this assumes a continuing of the low chance of success for a discharge upgrade). These un-athletic people are subject to: