A year ago an O-4 client was accused of various physical assaults on his son over an eight-year period. He faced two charges with a total of 10 specifications. Prior to trial we were able to identify very helpful information about the credibility of the allegations, despite there being medical…
We all know that military defense counsel is required to advise a client of potential sex offender registration issues since United States v. Miller, 63 M.J. 452, 458-59 (C.A.A.F. 2006). With that in mind, United States v. Toth, No. 201700014 (NMCCA 28 February 2018) is worth the read. In Toth,…
In late summer 2014, my client and another were accused of conspiring with each other and committing sexual assaults on a single complaining witness. The events were alleged to have happened at a party at a local hotel. As the investigation progressed six others were implicated in an alleged group…
Let’s take a look at United States v. Criswell, a case decided by the Army adverse to the appellant, and now pending review at CAAF, on the following issue. No. 18-0091/AR. U.S. v. Andrew J. Criswell. CCA 20150530. On consideration of the petition for grant of review of the decision of the United…
We know that the Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses does not apply at a sentencing hearing (although the Due Process Clause does). Here we have a report of United States v. Carrillo, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21731 (E.D. N.Y. Feb. 9, 2018), in which the judge held that the…
When the Congress, the media, and commanders called for a crackdown on military sexual assaults, the fear among the defense bar was the specter of unlawful command influence. Most of the cases have focussed on pretrial and post-trial. But the biggest fear was realized in United States v. Schloff, a…
In United States v. Sager, the accused was convicted of abusive sexual contact because the victim was “otherwise unaware” of the acts. The Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the findings and sentence. Appellant petitioned the CAAF. This case is before us for a second time. The Court of…
In general a court-martial accused can waive most rights and privileges in a pretrial agreement. A common term where there are multiple accuseds (drug or sexual assault cases for example) is an agreement to testify truthfully in another court-martial. But, Rule for Courts-Martial (R.C.M.) 705(c)(1) expressly prohibits terms or conditions of…
All current rape and serious sexual assault cases in England and Wales are to be reviewed “as a matter of urgency” to ensure evidence has been disclosed. Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders warned the review could see “a number of cases” dropped. It comes after the collapse of several…
I’m used to having some media interest in my cases or being asked to comment on someone else’s. With that in mind, I try hard to be careful on staying within bounds of what can be said or which can but shouldn’t. The 48th Criminal Law Seminar for VACLE has…