court-martial Tag Archives — Page 53 of 60 — Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog

Major Hasan update

December 11, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

The Army Times reports that the prosecution is being bolstered for the court-martial of Major Hasan for his court-martial at Fort Hood.

A senior military official said Friday that a new lead prosecutor has been appointed in the Fort Hood shooting case, a man who secured the death penalty in a similar case four years ago.

Col. Michael Mulligan will head the prosecution of Maj. Nidal Hasan, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the investigation.

Chessani recommendation

December 11, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Having avoided a court-martial, it appears that LtCol Chessani has obtained a recommendation that he be allowed to retire in his current grade.

A three-member panel found Friday that a former battalion commander charged with failing to fully disclose and investigate the killing of two dozen Iraqi men, women and children in 2005 should retire at his current rank.

The panel of senior officers decided that Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani “demonstrated substandard performance of duty, but did not commit any acts of misconduct,” a Marine Corps spokeswoman, Maj. Erin Wiener, said in an email.

First CAAF decision

December 11, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

CAAF has decided United States v. Campbell, __ M.J. ___ (C.A.A.F. 2009).

We granted review of three issues raised by the decision of
the United States Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals
(CCA), as follows:
I. WHETHER THE LOWER COURT ERRED IN REASSESSING
APPELLANT’S SENTENCE, AS (1) ITS REASSESSMENT
CALCULUS WAS BASED UPON AN ERRONEOUS
UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT SPECIFICATIONS WERE MERGED;
(2) IT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION IN FAILING TO ORDER
A SENTENCE REHEARING IN LIGHT OF APPELLANT BEING
SENTENCED UPON TWICE THE AMOUNT OF SPECIFICATIONS
AS APPROPRIATE; AND (3) THE UNDERLYING LOGIC USED
TO NOT REDUCE APPELLANT’S SENTENCE WAS FAULTY.
II. WHETHER THE LOWER COURT ERRED IN FINDING THAT
POSSESSION OF THE SAME IMAGES OF CHILD
PORNOGRAPHY ON DIFFERENT MEDIA CAN BE CHARGED AS
SEPARATE CRIMES UNDER 18 U.S.C. § 2252A.
III. WHETHER THE LOWER COURT ERRED IN DETERMINING THAT
THE THREE SPECIFICATIONS UNDER CHARGE II WERE NOT
“FACIALLY DUPLICATIVE.”
We hold that Appellant’s unconditional guilty plea waived
Issue II on appeal, and that the specifications were not
“facially duplicative” under Issue III. However, we hold that
the CCA erred in part on Issue I and remand for sentence
reassessment.

Sailor’s murder trial

December 9, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

A sailor accused of fatally shooting a man outside a Florida nightclub in 2007 will be court-martialed on a murder charge next week at Naval Station Mayport.

Navy Times reports, the court-martial will be for killing a owner of a night club in Jacksonville, FL. The article cites Article 111, UCMJ, but I suspect they mean 118.

Behenna

December 9, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Below is the text of the sworn affidavit, dated April 21, in which Dr. MacDonell explains how knowledge he obtained while waiting to testify in the case could have changed dramatically its outcome,

in the court-martial of 1Lt Michael Behenna, for murder and other violations of the UCMJ.

McCarty & Fatigante, at BigGovernment blog.

Danger in blogging

December 9, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Here is a interesting story of caution from Wired.com, and a potential court-martial for blogging in violation of the UCMJ.

But when he called President Obama a liar on his blog, and started using the site to go after his local school board, Grisham “found himself the target of an inspector general investigation and a threatened general letter of reprimand. Now his command is exploring formal charges against him,” Military Times reports.

Military Times reports:

New Army Lawyer on sale

December 9, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Two items of interest from the November Army Lawyer for court-martial cases under the UCMJ.

Personal Jurisdiction: What Does It Mean for Pay to be “Ready for Delivery ”in Accordance with 10 U.S.C. § 1168(a)?

Know Your Ground: The Military Justice Terrain of Afghanistan

The shrinking privilege

December 8, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

That is Professor Colin Miller’s entree to:

The Shrink(ing) Privilege, Take 2: New York Times Article Reports That Exceptions To Military Psychotherapist-Patient Privilege Are Hindering Therapy.

My post is here on the NYT article discussing the military patient-psychotherapist privilege at court-martial and under the UCMJ.

Crawford – seeking medical care

December 8, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

FederalEvidence blog has posted:

Fifth Circuit addresses an open issue concerning admission of medical statements under the Confrontation Clause; circuit also notes that “there is no constitutional right to confront the victim of a crime” where the government elects not to call the victim at trial, in United States v. Santos, _ F.3d _ (5th Cir. Dec. 2, 2009) (No. 08-31225).

On the issue of “whether out-of-court statements made during medical treatment are testimonial,” the circuit was guided by two recent Supreme Court decision. The first case involved dicta from the Court’s most recent Confrontation Clause decision in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, noting that “medical reports created for treatment purposes . . . would not be testimonial.” Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 129 S. Ct. at 2533 n.2.

Hanky panky between ranky’s

December 8, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

That’s how Tom Ricks characterizes the recent actions when the Navy relieved the CO, CMC, and transferred the XO of USS JAMES WILLIAMS (DDG 95). No court-martials of the leadership are anticipated. However, as Kate Wiltrout’s article points out, there have been quite a few disciplinary actions. The number of enlisted khaki involved seems quite extraordinary for the size of this ship’s crew.

Here is Kate Wiltrout’s article in The PilotOnline.

The commanding officer and highest-ranking enlisted sailor aboard the Norfolk-based destroyer James E. Williams were removed Friday in the wake of a fraternization scandal that erupted on a recent deployment.