The Jeffrey MacDonald murder case: A timeline of a major events. One of North Carolina’s most infamous murder cases is back in the national spotlight, with the release this week of the FX documentary series “A Wilderness of Error.” Former Green Beret Army doctor Jeffrey MacDonald was convicted in 1979…
We do that–right. Make an issue of the MCIO failures to investigate, their tunnel vision, their confirmation bias, and overall bias. Here’s an Article that might help. Lisa Steele, Investigating and Presenting an Investigative Omission Defense. 57 CRIM. L. BULL. (2021) (Forthcoming). “This paper explores defense challenges to the adequacy…
NMCCA published new rules effective 1 July 2020. Not this change. I’m agnostic whether this change will add confusion or not for the litigants. Rule 17.5. Table of Pseudonyms. (a) With the exception of merits briefs, all initial briefs in support of an appeal or petition shall include a separate…
14 September 2020, the court issued a published opinion in United States v. Livak, it’s a Moreno case analyzed with the new rules in mind. Appellant claims that his due process rights were violated when his case was not docketed with this court within 30 days of the convening authority’s…
A colleague provided this thought. “just got a call from a former Army member, who in 2005, decided that he didn’t want a second tour in Iraq, went AWOL for @ 2 months; turned himself in, but had hot pee for both THC and cocaine and for good measure, called…
I refer from time to time to court-martial decisions from other countries. Obviously, they are not dispositive here, but there can be some interesting arguments or points come from them, which is why I bring you R v. Jordan, a decision of the Supreme Court of Canada addressing court-martial speedy…
Prof. Cole at CrimProfBlog brings us, Nathan Lilly (Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University) has posted The ‘High Skies’: Establishing Venue for Prosecutions of Crimes Aboard Aircraft (57 Crim L. Bull., no. 1, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: A fundamental concept in criminal procedure is that the…
Over at Global Military Justice Reform blog I posted about the NDAA 2016 and a “how are we doing” note. I begin with, In the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act 2016 (NDAA) the Congress made some significant changes to the UCMJ and the President’s follow-on Executive Order directed conforming changes…
Justin Oshana’s Sept. 1 Tuesday Opinion essay, “How Trump poisoned the prosecution of Bowe Bergdahl,” was exceptionally insightful, accurate and fair. I can attest to the accuracy of Mr. Oshana’s depiction of the complexity of the case. Whatever one’s opinion about the actions of Bowe Bergdahl on the battlefield, we should, as…
As a reminder, Prof. Cole brings us, Michael Murphy (University of Pennsylvania Law School) has posted The Search for Clarity in an Attorney’s Duty to Google on SSRN. Attorneys have a professional duty to investigate relevant facts about the matters on which they work. There is no specific rule or statute requiring that…