UCMJ Tag Archives — Page 17 of 50 — Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog

Lawyering discharges

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

Schaefer v. McHugh is the interesting case of an Army JAG who finagled a medical discharge, but then the orders were revoked, and upon return to the fold he received a GOMR. It’s not nice to have the Army pay for your law school education and then try to sneak out the back-door.

Malcolm Schaefer pointed to his bad knees as a reason to get out of his Army service. But Schaefer was an Army lawyer. Bad knees typically do not preclude service as a lawyer. The Army therefore rejected Schaefer’s request for discharge. But because of an administrative foul-up, Schaefer was able to obtain papers showing his legal discharge. Shortly afterwards, the Army informed Schaefer that he had to return to service. Schaefer did so, and the Army then took disciplinary action against him for his apparent shenanigans. In this litigation, Schaefer argues, in essence, that he beat the system by obtaining papers showing his discharge and that subsequent Army disciplinary actions against him were invalid. The District Court rejected Schaefer’s challenge, granting summary judgment to the Secretary of the Army. We affirm the judgment of the District Court.

Crystal gazing

June 22, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Well, we have a general idea of what GEN McChrystal is accused of saying, as well of supposed statements of other officers. As I was driving home today I heard a story that he’d submitted a resignation – from the Army, or his current position? USA Today has this piece in which they report a resignation and a denial that a resignation has been submitted. There are so many puns about crystal and star gazing. But sadly there’ll be little humor in what’s going on. From a military justice practice perspective, how many clients have been accused and disciplined for similar types of disrespect?

The LA Times has this piece about the increasing politicalization of the military (something I somewhat tongue in cheek commented was behind LTC Lakin’s contumacy):

Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal’s criticism of Obama administration officials symbolizes an accelerated partisanship of the officer corps.

Fort Gillem shooting update 4

June 22, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that:

Military officials have charged Staff Sgt. Rashad Valmont with murder in the fatal shooting of Master Sgt. Pedro Mercado at Fort Gillem, U.S. Army spokeswoman Maj. Lenora Hutchinson told the AJC on Tuesday.

The report then goes on to say that:

CAAF search and seizure case

June 21, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

United States v. Huntzinger.

I. WHETHER THE MILITARY JUDGE ERRED IN CONCLUDING THAT NO SOLDIER AT FORWARD OPERATING BASE (FOB) LOYALTY HAD A REASONABLE EXPECTATION OF PRIVACY IN ANY REGARD.

II. WHETHER THE MILITARY JUDGE ERRED IN DENYING A MOTION TO SUPPRESS APPELLANT’S EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE AND PASSWORD PROTECTED LAPTOP WHEN THE
COMMANDER WHO ORDERED THE SEIZURE OF THE EQUIPMENT IMMEDIATELY SEARCHED THE EQUIPMENT UPON SEIZURE, DEMONSTRATING THAT HE WAS PERFORMING LAW ENFORCEMENT FUNCTIONS AND WAS NOT NEUTRAL AND
DETACHED WHEN SEIZING THE ITEMS.

Up periscope

June 20, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Fox news reports that:

MyFox TampaBay.com

The AWOL soldier accused of trying to enter MacDill Air Force Base with weapons and ammunition in his car is not a terrorist and was merely “trying to impress” his girlfriend during the incident, his father said in an exclusive interview with FoxNews.com. . . . Officials said the couple tried to enter MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., on Monday in a Honda CRV that contained three handguns, three rifles and some ammunition.

WSMV.tv reports that:

A man suspected of deserting the Army was accused of abusing a 16-month old. The toddler is on life support.

Edwards AFB reports that:

A technical sergeant assigned to the 95th Security Forces Squadron was convicted by Special Court-Martial June 11. A panel of seven officers found him guilty of committing Adultery and he was sentenced to a reduction in rank to senior airman and 90 days of hard labor without confinement.

Air Force reports that:

Air Force officials issued guidance banning the knowing use and possession of any substance, other than alcohol or tobacco, that is ingested to alter mood or function.

Arguably many items sold at GNC at the Exchange and in the Exchange could qualify?

The islandpacket.com reports some more information on the Parris Island Marines:

A 26-year-old, gay Savannah man who claims two Beaufort Marines committed a hate crime against him last weekend was accused earlier this year of using racial slurs and trading punches with a black truck driver at a Georgia gas station. . . .

Savannah-Chatham Metro Police, the FBI and Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort officials still are trying to piece together an incident involving the same man June 12 near the intersection of Congress and Bull Streets in downtown Savannah. They also are trying to determine whether pending misdemeanor battery charges against the two Marines accused of beating him should be elevated to federal hate-crime charges.

Witnesses told Savannah-Chatham Metro Police the two Marines thought the gay man winked at one of them. One of the Marines responded by punching the alleged victim in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious.

Capital Flyer reports:

Over the past eight months, two flight engineers from the 99th Airlift Squadron, whose mission is to provide airlift support to distinguished VIPs including members of Congress, have been convicted by Special Courts-Martial of wrongfully using prescription medications. . . .

What makes these cases particularly frightening is that both of these flight engineers were on flying status and were flying missions during the time they were abusing prescription medications.

Note: Joseph was prosecuted for the flying status violation and found not guilty. I was his counsel.

Fort Gillem shooting update 3

June 20, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Army Times reports that:

The military has released the name of the man allegedly shot to death by a fellow reservist at Fort Gillem.

An earlier release said that the name of the suspect would not be released until there were charges.

Afghan and foreign AWOLs update 4

June 19, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Fox News reports that:

Texas senator is demanding answers from the Air Force on the current status of the 10 AWOL Afghan military deserters, which he called a breach of national security.

The initial number of Afghans being floated was 17. Now:

Fort Gillem shooting update 2

June 18, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that:

The victim of Thursday’s U.S. Army Reserve post shooting and his alleged killer both apparently worked together, Army officials said Friday. Both men were full-time Army Guard reserve soldiers assigned to the Army Medical Professional Management Command, spokeswoman Maj. Lenora Hutchinson told the AJC.

It’s unclear whether they both were on-duty and working in the office building near the southeast corner of Fort Gillem when the shooting took place, but the alleged shooter was said to be in military uniform when he later turned himself in to police in Lake City, just south of the base.

Collateral consequences firearms and sex

June 18, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Here is an unpublished opinion in United States v. Jones, No. 09-15005 (11th Cir. 17 June 2010). I’ve commented before about how nuanced sex offender registration issues can get.

Christopher Martin Jones appeals from his sentence imposed following his conviction for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. On appeal, Jones argues that the district court erroneously found that his 1992 conviction by a special court-martial for sodomy, in violation of United States Military Justice ("UCMJ") Article 125, 10 U.S.C. § 925, constitutes a sex offense that requires registration under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, 42 U.S.C. § 16901 et. seq. ("SORNA"). Accordingly, he argues, the court abused its discretion in ordering that he register as a sex offender under SORNA as a special condition of his supervised release (special condition 5). In addition, Jones also argues that the court abused its discretion in imposing special conditions 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7 of his supervised release, which are targeted toward preventing future sexual misconduct. Relying on 18 U.S.C. § 3583(d), Jones contends that, in light of the fact that his criminal history includes only one conviction for a sex offense, and this offense occurred in 1992, these special conditions are not reasonably related to the sentencing goals set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).

For the reasons set forth below, we vacate and remand.

Afghan AWOL’s update 2

June 18, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

I posted yesterday about the Afghan military personnel AWOL in CONUS.

Before it’s News now is tying this incident with this:

In late January, Senators were warned that Al Qaeda is determined to stage an attack on U.S. soil by July 2010. This information circled the media for some time, as they continually pumped images of Al Qaeda onto newscasts around the world. If this “threat” holds true than we only have 13 days left until a major attack.