Thanks to LawProfsBlog here is a link to an interesting article:
Regulating the Plea-Bargaining Market: From Caveat Emptor to Consumer Protection
Stephanos Bibas, University of Pennsylvania Law School, U of Penn Law School, Public Law Research Paper No. 10-33, California Law Review, Vol. 99, Forthcoming
For all of the criticisms of military justice and the UCMJ, you don’t have this at court-martial as tipped by Sentencing Law & Policy blog.
Cargill, a federal public defender, was perturbed by a rarely discussed U.S. court rule that critics say conflicts with the presumption of judicial openness. In the Western District of Virginia, as in many other U.S. court districts, a probation officer makes a secret sentencing recommendation to the judge. Cargill accidentally saw the probation officer’s recommendation for his client. The report was "misleading and inaccurate," Cargill wrote in a protest letter. (Emphasis added.)
Here is a link to the full article in the Roanoke (VA) Times.
World Net Daily quotes Neal Puckett as follows:
He confirmed to WND that there will be new directions for the defense, but could not elaborate.
"All I can really say is the case is going to be handled differently from here on out," he said.
Here SignOn San Diego reports the unusual situation of public release of pretrial agreement “discussions.”
The Coast Guardsman piloting the boat that killed 8-year-old Anthony DeWeese might have served a year or less in prison if his lawyers had pursued a plea deal dangled by the prosecution.
It is unclear how the emails surfaced publically.
I posted before about the CO of USS OHIO being detached for cause and the number of Navy CO’s DFC’d this year. Now Navy Times has obtained a copy of documents related this case which appears to include a copy of the command investigation.
The arrival of a birthday card in the ship’s mail addressed to Capt. Ronald Murray Gero, who was turning 56, marked the beginning of the end of his command of the guided-missile submarine Ohio.
It appears various members of the crew started collecting evidence, and then:
Courtesy of fourthamendmentlaw.com here is an interesting summary of search law from the Oregon Federal Public Defender.
First he acknowledges that a persons privacy right has been restricted over the years and with the advent of technology privacy may get harder to protect.
A. Introduction
The revolution of the Warren Court, especially in the area of search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment, was largely an expansion of federal constitutional rights in the face of state practices that limited the protection of individual rights embodied in the Bill of Rights. The following outline of federal cases construing the protections of the Fourth Amendment reflects a dynamic tension between the need to secure evidence to convict law breakers and the protection of citizens’ reasonable expectations of privacy. The result has been an overall contraction of privacy rights. This outline sets out basic principles and counterpoints from which criminal defense lawyers can fashion arguments for a more expansive view of the Fourth Amendment’s protections.
USA Today is reporting that Morlock has been referred to trial non-capital. As does Reuters, MSNBC and other news outlets.
It appears that LTC Lakin may be feeling victimized? safeguardourconstitution reports:
In facing court-martial, LTC Lakin is just the latest victim of the determined effort of the President not to provide simple proof of his eligibility under the constitution to hold office.
Thanks Dr. Conspiracy for catching that.
the log (California’s Boating & Fishing News) reports:
The Coast Guard has ordered three petty officers to stand trial in a San Diego Bay crash that killed an 8-year-old boy during a holiday boat parade, an official said Oct. 6.
Rear Adm. Joseph R. Castillo, commander of the 11th Coast Guard District, ordered the general court-martial after reviewing a report by the investigating officer, Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Rick Foster said. That report concluded there was no legal justification for the Dec. 20, 2009, crash, the Los Angeles Times has reported.
I happened to have business at MDW today so I stopped by to take LTC Lakin’s pulse for his upcoming court-martial and watch today’s Article 39(a), UCMJ, session.
The writ was denied today. A straight line standard denial [thanks to CAAFLog for a copy].
1. Mr. Jensen was excused from further participation in the case at the specific affirmative consent of LTC Lakin, because he’d been “discharged.” See R.C.M. 506(c).
Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog