UCMJ Tag Archives — Page 47 of 51 — Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog

Collateral effects of PTSD

December 13, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

The downloading of CP?

This local story from Virginia, which is headlined "Navy officer gets 40 months for child porn," reflects recent debates over both the federal child porn sentencing guidelines and showing leniency for those who served our country in the military. Here are the details:

A Navy lieutenant commander who served in Iraq with an elite Riverine unit was sentenced today to 40 months in prison after admitting he downloaded child pornography. John J. Hall blamed his actions in part on post traumatic stress disorder, a claim that the judge in the case took into account in granting leniency.

UP court-martial news

December 12, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Here are some headline actions around military justice.

GI Cleared of Rape now Fears for Career, Military Times

Amphib CO, XO fired in fraternization case, Navy TImes.

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.

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.

Flawed court-martial pretrial system

December 7, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan’s defense attorney skirmished with Army commanders Wednesday over the timing of a sanity examination for the Fort Hood gunman, saying that his client is still too medically impaired to participate.

So begins a piece in the Dallas News. What’s the flaw. There is no judge that attorney Galligan can go to or appeal to.

"This is getting dirty," lawyer John Galligan said of the Army. "These guys have made it clear that they’re going for blood."

ACCA court-martial appeal decisions

December 7, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

United States v. Story. Here the issue is two-fold: what is the response when the members want to call a witness, and what is permissible on appeal to demonstrate prejudice. ACCA found error in the military judge denying the members an opportunity to call a witness. On appeal, ACCA found that documents submitted by appellate government and appellate defense could not be considered. This seems odd, because the defense is trying to show prejudice from the error and the government is trying to show lack of prejudice.

When the members returned, immediately after calling the court to order and accounting for the parties, the following colloquy ensued:

MJ: Members, the bailiff indicated that you had a question? Colonel Meyer is shaking her head.