Uncategorized Category Archives — Page 60 of 112 — Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog Published by International Military Lawyer

A new MEJA prosecution

July 28, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

A former U.S. Army contractor was arrested today in Newport News, Va., for allegedly killing one sailor and seriously injuring another in a vehicular collision in Kuwait[.]

Hanks is charged under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA), a statute that gives U.S. courts jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed outside the United States by, among others, contractors or subcontractors of the Department of Defense. If convicted, Hanks faces up to 10 years in prison.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Army’s Criminal Investigative Division and is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorneys Micah D. Pharris and Steven C. Parker of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Hurt for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Newby decided at CGCCA

July 27, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

United States v. Newby has been decided and has a reminder for trial defense counsel.

The military judge made a clemency recommendation.

The SJAR failed to note the clemency recommendation.

Orly Taitz-world

July 17, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

On 16 July 2010, Orly Taitz posted the following item on her website.

NO ANSWER FROM JUSTICE THOMAS YET. PEOPLE CAN FILE AMICUS CURIAE BRIEFS- FRIEND OF THE COURT, IN SUPPORT OF THE APPLICATION

Pity, because there is a 15 July 2010 entry on the Supreme Court journal regarding Taitz v. Thomas D. MacDonald, Colonel Garrison Commander, Fort Benning, et al:

Oooops, trial counsel, defense counsel do you agree

July 15, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Here is an new grant from CAAF.

No. 10-0494/AF. U.S. v. Caleb B. BEATY. CCA 37478. Review granted on the following issue:

WHETHER THE SENTENCE MUST BE SET ASIDE BECAUSE THE MILITARY JUDGE DETERMINED THE SENTENCE BASED ON THE INCORRECT MAXIMUM PUNISHMENT.

Miranda, where is she

July 15, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Carmen Miranda was a celebrated and successful actress from the 1940’s. She died 5 August 1955. And no she wasn’t auditioning to be co-counsel for LTC Lakin.

Ernesto Arturo Miranda died on 31 January 1976, in prison. Although his notable case resulted in a new trial he was reconvicted. He died in a knife fight.

The case of Miranda v. Arizona has not died yet, or has it, or will it soon. The American Constitution Society has a piece, Examining Miranda’s Future.

LTC Lakin update

July 14, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Oh, For Goodness Sake blog is reporting that Orly Taitz is now assisting in LTC Lakin’s defense?

A posting at A Natural Born Citizen . . . Orly? appears to indicate that one of Orly Taitz’s blogs has been taken over – I think by aliens. Oh man what a pun. She does have some blather, but apparently repetitious of some of the events in the Lakin case.

Another LIO case

July 6, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Here is an interesting Order in United States v. Aguilar where the court has specified an issue.

Whether assault consummated by a battery in violation of Article 128, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 928, of which the appellant was convicted, is a lesser included offense of the charged Rape by Use of Physical Violence in violation of Article 120, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 920, if the proof does not show the assault is the alleged act of physical violence that compelled sexual intercourse.1

The footnote is:

We know close enough when we see it

July 5, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

FourthAmendment.com has this post:

Today is the 26th anniversary of United States v. Leon and the good faith exception.

When I remembered that this morning, I had a flash back to the last CLE I did for prosecutors about 1990 where the speaker after me referred to July 5th as "Independence Day from the Fourth Amendment." There was rousing applause from the audience. This was in Memphis, and it is a telling commentary on the thinking of law enforcement and the Fourth Amendment.

Coast Guard collision

July 1, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Coast Guard News reports:

Criminal charges ranging from involuntary manslaughter to dereliction of duty have been preferred by the Coast Guard against four boat crewmembers from Coast Guard Station San Diego in connection with a fatal collision between one of the station’s patrol boats and a civilian vessel in San Diego Bay late last year.

The charges were brought under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and are based on information discovered by the Coast Guard investigators looking into the December 20, 2009, collision that resulted in the death of one child and the injury of other passengers on the civilian boat. Rear Admiral Joseph Castillo, commander of the 11th Coast Guard District, is the convening authority in the case.

The possibly soon to be junior senior enlisted at WPAFB

June 29, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Dayton Daily News reports that:

The Air Force has moved a step closer to deciding whether to court-martial the Air Force Materiel Command’s former top enlisted man on charges he sexually harassed airmen, misused his authority, and tried to persuade others to assign those women to his area.

The investigating officer who heard three days of testimony in May at a hearing for Chief Master Sgt. William C. Gurney at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base has submitted his summary of the testimony and his recommendations to Scott Air Force Base, Ill., which is handling the decision on whether to court-martial Gurney. It could be several weeks before the review of Col. Michael O’Sullivan’s report is done and commanders at Scott Air Force Base render a decision[.]