Uncategorized Category Archives — Page 112 of 117 — Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog Published by International Military Lawyer

Model State Code of Military Justice.

March 8, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

In 2003, Congress directed the Secretary of Defense to produce a Model State Code of Military Justice. This Code is intended to be adopted by all of the states for use when dealing with misconduct by personnel in Title 32 status. The idea is to try and have a "uniform" state code rather than 50+ differing codes (Guam and Puerto Rico provide National Guard units).

Jurisdiction over members of the National Guard generally rests with

either the federal government or the state to which their National

MEJA alive and well.

March 8, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

In addition to action under MEJA involving contractors in Iraq, a civilian spouse in Okinawa is headed for a U.S. District Court trial for the death of his stepson on Okinawa.

David Allen, Accused stepdad awaits transfer, Stars &Stripes, 6 March 2009.

The Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act of 2000
The

Lost motions and next moves.

March 8, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

In writing a piece this weekend I came across this excellent article by Pat Grant on Extraordinary Relief, it's worth reading and filing in your trial notebook.

Captain Patrick B. Grant, ARTICLE: Extraordinary Relief: A Primer for Trial Practitioners, 2008 Army Law. 30 (November, 2008).

Compelling Access To Encrypted Laptop

March 5, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Fifth Amendment Privilege was not violated by compelling the

defendant to provide an unencrypted version of his laptop drive

containing suspected child pornography to the government, in In re Boucher, (D.Vt. Feb. 19, 2009) (No. 2:06-mj-91) (2009 WL 424718) (unpublished) (“Boucher II“)

New Army Lawyer

March 5, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

The February Army Lawyer is on-line. There are four articles of interest to military practitioner's.

2008 New Developments in Self-Incrimination
New Developments in Sixth Amendment Confrontation and Jurisdiction
Building a Better Mousetrap or Just a More Convoluted One?:A Look at Three Major Developments in Substantive Criminal Law
“Planning is Everything” Purpose Driven Trial Preparation

Trial Counsel doing the right thing.

March 5, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

No Ethics Charges Filed Against Prosecutor Who Tried to Help Defense, ABA Journal blog.

Military searches in CONUS.

March 5, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Here is John

C. Yoo's October 23, 2001 memo on the use of U.S. troops to conduct

military warrantless raids inside the U.S. here.

The value of oral argument?

March 5, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

[I quote] If you’re a briefwriter who, for

whatever reason, rarely gets the opportunity to present oral argument,

take heart in this quotation by a Fifth Circuit legend:

Forensically speaking.

March 1, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Psychology & Crime News has an interesting post about forensic linguistics in crime detection. Using forensic linguistics in the criminal justice system, P&CN, 28 February 2009.

John Olsson of the Forensic Linguistics Institute is one of the UK’s most experienced forensic linguists, with over

300 criminal cases in his portfolio. He kindly agreed to answer a few

Book learning in ethics for counsel.

February 28, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

NDAA National Prosecution Standards – 2nd Edition

Download Publication

This
is the most recent version of the National Prosecution Standards by the
National District Attorneys Association. The standards are currently
being considered for possible revision and will soon be available for
sale on this Web site.

It is improper for a trial counsel to interject herself into the proceedings by expressing a "personal belief or opinion as to the truth or falsity of any testimony or evidence." United States v. Horn, 9 M.J. 429, 430 (C.M.A. 1980) (quoting ABA Standards, The Prosecution Function, § 5.8(b) (1971)).

United States v. Fletcher, 62 M.J. 175, 179 (C.A.A.F. 2005).

There are also standards for the defense function.

The full ABA Criminal Justice Standards are available on-line.

Do No Wrong: Ethics for Prosecutors and Defenders

By Peter A. Joy and Kevin C. McMunigal

This book is designed to help provide guidance for resolving ethical issues such as:

-How far may the prosecution or defense go in using religion in closing argument?

-Does the defense lawyer or the client decide whether to raise an insanity defense or to present mitigation evidence?

-Is the defendant entitled to Brady material prior to entering a plea bargain?

-When may the defense introduce evidence of an alternate perpetrator or
SODDI (the "some other dude did it") defense? (Jan. 2009, 205 pages).