Each week CrimProfBlog publishes the top ten downloaded articles. Here are three that may be useful to military justice practitioners. Brady’s Blind Spot: Impeachment Evidence in Police Personnel Files and the Battle Splitting the Prosecution Team Jonathan Abel, Stanford Law School – Constitutional Law Center The Supreme Court’s Brady doctrine requires…
Professor Imwinklried has an excellent article advocating banishment of the ban on extrinsic evidence to impeach under Federal (Military) Rule of Evidence 608(b) (MRE). Prof. Imwinkleried questions why the ban is necessary and may in fact encourage perjury on the part of a testifying witness. Professor Kevin Cole has an…
Being drunk and being incapacitated aren’t the same – no matter how hard military sexual assault trainers try to convince you otherwise. Such training is not just wrong – it is – IMHO – knowingly false. Which brings us, finally, to the drunk sex issue. So, is Sokolow suggesting that…
It’s never too early to plan for interesting upcoming events. So, you ought to set-aside 12-13 June 2015, especially if you will be in the Arlington, VA area on those days. The Center for Prosecutorial Integrity will have its Second Innocence Summit. Proceedings will take place at the Crowne Plaza…
Can a failure to file a pretrial motion equal ineffective assistance of counsel? The BLUF is yes in some cases. In some instances I have argued IAC on appeal for failing to make a meritorious motion. The NMCCA has issued an interesting opinion in United States v. Spurling, in which they…
Some years ago I represented a Soldier accused of multiple assaults and rapes of his wife, and of his girlfriends. The rapes allegedly included him choking the complaining witness during the rapes. He told me – and later the members at his court-martial – that he and his wife consensually…
On 2 October, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in a case that might have important ramifications for military justice – Ohio v. Clark. And it is a source for potential motions going forward, regardless of CAAF’s recent Squire opinion. Here is the question presented. Whether an individual’s obligation to report suspected…
Your weekend reading program. Many, many, many years ago, as a police officer I had attempted to arrest a suspect who successfully got away. Some days later, I saw a CID officer bringing in a person to the station – and I said, “that’s him.” It wasn’t, I was wrong. My…
The Coast Guard has an interesting opinion in United States v. Sullivan, on a members panel stacking. A military accused does not have the same “jury” right as a civilian accused, but he does have the right to a panel (jury) that is fair and impartial. United States v. Roland,…
Here are a couple of articles worth the read if you have some time this weekend. The Reliability of Assault Victims’ Immediate Accounts: Evidence from Trauma Studies, Melissa Hamilton, University of Houston Law Center, September 7, 2014, Stanford Law & Policy Review, Vol. 26, 2015, Forthcoming Ms. Leveritt has recently taken on the…