Cheng & Mannion on Forensic Reports and the Confrontation Clause By CrimProf BlogEditor Share Edward K. Cheng and Cara Mannion (Vanderbilt Law School and affiliation not provided to SSRN) have posted Unravelling Williams v. Illinois (NYU Law Review Online) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Forensics are a staple of modern criminal trials, yet what restrictions…
Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog
Scope of the search
NMCCA has an interesting case on the scope of a consent search and subsequent actions when looking for evidence on a cellphone. I think many times we have seen this issue. The MCIO gets a “limited” or narrow consent, but then just goes ahead and looks at everything claiming “plain…
SCOTUSBlog on Briggs, et. al.
Argument preview: Determining the statute of limitations for military rape – and possibly a lot more
Suppressing that pesky search
There was a substantial basis for finding probable cause, and this didn’t even approach “bare bones.” “We must take care not to confuse a bare bones affidavit with one that merely lacks probable cause.” The motion to suppress was properly denied. United States v. Gilbert, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 7590 (6th…
IAC in pretrial negotiations
Sometimes appellate counsel find themselves looking at ineffective representation in advising a client to plead guilty and then the conduct of the negotiations. Taylor v. Crowther, USDC Utah may be worth the read. (The court opinion is within the article.) Here the issue was related to sentencing. Most compelling of…
Joint possession
When two people jointly buy drugs for their individual use and then transfer the drugs between themselves, does that amount to distribution for prosecution purposes–apparently so based on a new case from ACCA. United States v. Myers, ACCA March 2020. This appeal raises a compelling question: whether joint purchasers and…
The complexity of consent
Here’s is an essay for those interested in defining or otherwise addressing consent in military sexual assault cases. Aya Gruber, “The Complexity of College Consent,” Adjudicating Campus Sexual Misconduct and Assault: Controversies and Challenges, ed. Claire M. Renzetti and Diane R. Follingstad. Copyright © 2020 Cognella, Inc. Uploaded to SSRN…
Abandonment of rank
Haven’t seen this come up for a while. An individual can “abandon his rank and position of authority in dealing with a subordinate by his own misconduct.” United States v. Richardson, 7 M.J. 320 (C.M.A. 1979) (citing United States v. Noriega, 7 C.M.A 196 (C.M.A. 1956)). The Government argues that…
Canary, how about gorilla
The Canary in the Military Justice Mineshaft: A Review of Recent Sexual Assault Courts-Martial Tainted by Unlawful Command Influence, by Mark Visger. 41 MITCHELL HAMLINE L. J. PUB. POLICY & PRACTICE 59
To catch . . .
The Pentagon has launched a new program that aims to find serial sex offenders in the military by compiling information into a database submitted by sexual-assault survivors. The program, called Catch a Serial Offender, or Catch, allows survivors of sexual assault who are submitting a restricted report to provide information confidentially…