Here is a link to today’s oral argument in Briscoe v. Virginia, the post Crawford and Melendez-Diaz case. While I’m not convinced the decision will have much meaning in military cases, there are others who believe it will. So it does behoove us to monitor the case.
Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog
Supervised release
Sentencing Law & Policy (an excellent site) has this post which may be of some interest to those dealing with post-confinement issues. The Third Circuit has today issued an interesting opinion concerning supervised release conditions for a repeat sex offender. The ruling in US v. Heckman, No. 08-3844 (3d Cir.…
SEAL case: trial venue changed to Iraq [correction]
A military judge has decided to move the trial for one of three Navy SEALs accused in connection with the alleged assault of a suspected terrorist to Iraq. Cmdr. Tierney Carlos, the trial judge for the court-martial of Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class (SEAL) Jonathan Elliot Keefe, has agreed with…
Its Briscoe time
Yep, tomorrow is 11 January 2010. Briscoe v. Virginia will be argued at the U. S. Supreme Court. The link will take you to SCOTUSWiki which has all of the relevant pleadings and decisions.
Fragging and rapping
Here is an interesting piece relevant to a pending court-martial? Tim King, The Fragging of American Officers: Historic Problems and Future Planning, Salem-News.com. What we call fragging the British Navy called "Shot Rolling" after the practice of rolling a cannon ball across the deck for the purpose of injuring an…
Stolen Valor report
Whether Robert White was injured in Iraq in 2005 and deserved a Purple Heart makes no difference now. The chief hospital corpsman wore the award without receiving it through official channels, and in the Navy’s eyes, that makes him a faker. Marine Corps Times reports. An Army captain at Fort…
Impeachment by prior conviction
Every so often the comes up of impeachment by prior conviction under Mil. R. Evid. 609. The reminder is that: The fact of a pending appeal does not defeat admission, but it may be brought up and discussed. Mil. R. Evid. 609(e). A summary court-martial may not be used to…
Major Hasan update
The Killeen Daily Herald reports that LTG Cone recently gave a briefing about “behavioral health care.” The Army is behind Fort Hood’s effort to address behavioral health care issues and plans to institute it across the board, the post’s commander said Friday. In response to incidents like the Nov. 5…
Rapping rap II
A few days ago I posted about the military rapper pending court-martial for his music. It seems that he has a website and is now “promoting himself as the first hip hop president of the world, reports Coastal Courier.com. (Caution bad language.)
Senior Guardsman to be court-martialed for malfeasance in office?
A top official in the Massachusetts National Guard faces possible removal by court-martial after state and federal investigations uncovered a range of alleged improprieties, including misusing federal money, hiring a convicted felon to do legal work, and threatening a whistleblower. Yesterday, Murray received a hand-delivered letter accusing him of “waste,…