Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog

Inside the Detainee Abuse Task Force, reported in The Nation.

I was ruminating on the Partington issue, and I was reading the recent NMCCA’s decisions, and I came across this. Federal courts, to include the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, have long held that a defective specification challenged for the first time on appeal will be liberally construed…

So, I’m objecting to a piece of evidence that the prosecution wants given to the members.  The objection is that the evidence contains inadmissible material.  The TC says, well that’s OK, give it to them with a limiting instruction.  So I say, wait a minute.  This is different to the…

In United States v. Serna, an unpublished opinion, NMCCA holds that indecent acts with a child over 12 is effectively an “LIO” of indecent acts with a child under 12 for sentencing purposes.  The age of the victim being a potential aggravating factor.  This was a GP case where the…

For us Chrome users the RSS feeds on the CAAF website can be accessed two ways. Use Google Reader, and then use Google Reader Notifier in the browser to alert you. CAAF has also posted this link for a RSS extension that’s good for all websites showing the RSS icon…

Professor Friedman has a quick note on a petition filed at the Supremes in Racz v. California. The petition ably shows that there is a sharp conflict of authority on the question of whether a statement can be deemed testimonial even though it was not made to governmental authorities. Regular…

The fayobserver.com reports:  The top enlisted Special Forces soldier has been removed from his position while commanders investigate allegations that he had an extramarital relationship.  In addition to the adultery, the military investigation: The military investigation, Pruitt asserts in the court documents, is focused on determining whether Vigil broke a…

You are aware of Fasler and the numerous trailer cases.  Here is a grant from today’s CAAF orders: No. 11-0374/AR.  U.S. v. Lelan M. SHANKLES.  CCA 20100307.  Review granted on the following specified issue: WHETHER AN ARTICLE 134 CLAUSE 1 OR 2 SPECIFICATION THAT FAILS TO EXPRESSLY ALLEGE EITHER POTENTIAL…

Professor Colin Miller has a very interesting post regarding a new article by Cynthia Jones, A Reason to Doubt: The Suppression of Evidence and the Inference of Innocence, 100 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 415 (2010). Most importantly are two potential recommendations for dealing with the issue at trial.  First…

United States v. Oliver.  This was a legal sufficiency of a desertion conviction.  Fascinating discussion of the role of CAAF and the legal standard of review at CAAF under Jackson.