This article showed that the vast majority of court-martial sentences are affirmed by AFCCA. On the rare occasion when sentence relief was granted, it was usually not based on factual sufficiency or sentence appropriateness. While there has been some fluctuation in how often AFCCA grants sentence relief, it is minimal…
so starts a post at wrongfulconvictionsblog–Junk Science Reigns ____ So Much for True Science in the Courtroom. [W]hen the National Academy of Sciences report Forensic Science in the United States; A Path Forward was published people thought we might see a true effort to address “junk science being used to convict innocent people.”…
https://flipboard.com/@flipboard/flip.it%2F-3kqa8-some-criminal-forensics-techniques-may-/f-e42c55c244%2Fuproxx.com
Please don’t do this. [T]he defense counsels did not respect the judge’s ruling. [I]n an astounding show of contempt, [they] tried to force the judge to reverse himself by their unilateral withdrawal from the proceedings, on the apparent pretext that they were not prepared. They did not: voir dire the…
The recent Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals case illustrates why defense counsel, and staff judge advocates, should exercise care with victim impact statements submitted post trial. In United States v. Goss, the court reminds us that: Article 60, UCMJ, was amended to include a new subsection “(d)” that authorized…
Check the warrant, or in the military the search authorization. The recent decision of the Army Court of Criminal Appeals in a government appeal tells you why it’s important to check the warrant. In United States v. Gurzynski, the court had before it a government appeal of a military judge’s…
My title is from the title of a piece in Mother Jones. Federal agencies don’t have a uniform definition of sexual assault, and that has led to dramatically different estimates on the frequency of sexual violence in the United States, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. Currently,…
http://www.innocenceproject.org/ginny-lefever-answers-questions-ptsd/
Not Your Momma’s 32: Explaining the Impetus for Change Behind Key Provisions of the Article 32 Preliminary Hearing By Lieutenant Colonel John Loran Kiel Jr.pdf
The NMCCA has issued two significant opinions this week, one of which is worth the read while the United States prosecution of Bowe Bergdahl continues. United States v. Solis, __ M.J. ___ (N-M Ct. Crim. App. 2016). The case presents discussion of continuing issues relating to the nature of the…