Court-Martial Trial Practice BlogFound at birtherreport.com.
LTC Lakin and Mr. Jensen will be on the Barry Farber radio tonight at 2000.
Apparently the “embarrsassment” language was intended by the judge to alert Congress that they need to begin impeachment proceedings.
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LTC Lakin is spinning
The spinning has begun, and yes there’s a pun in there, or at least an attempted one. Based on cherry-picked comments from a number of Lakin supporters it appears that all of this is merely the military judge saving the President “embarrassment.” They are grasping at a straw as a way to explain a complete and utter refutation of what they have been trying to incorrectly advertize as the state of military law, assuming they were present. Some comments about the military judge as an individual have become so personal, so obnoxious, and downright nasty that I have decided to remove or not post such comments. Yes, this is a change from my normal attitude of let what’s said be said and the sayer and his/her worth as a person be evaluated.
PERHAPS SOMEONE COULD BE ENCOURAGED TO MAKE THE WRITTEN FINDINGS PUBLICLY AVAILABLE?
I was present for the “40 minute” reading of her written findings and conclusions. These written findings and conclusions are now part of the record of trial, and are also now available to Jensen, LTC Lakin, and the prosecutors. Perhaps APF could post the findings so we can see just how badly the military judge ruled – APF let’s get those wrong headed arguments of the judge out in the open where the full text can be read and dissected?
LTC Lakin’s defense crushed in detail
I have just returned from watching most of the Article 39(a), UCMJ, hearing. (I left as the last item on the table was a defense request for Alan Keyes and LtGen McInerney.)
To say that the military judge destroyed the defense arguments in detail would not be an overstatement. Although the military judge did politely characterize the defense arguments as an “erroneous view of the law.”
The authority to issue orders does not depend on the qualifications of the President, any suggestion that it does is an erroneous view of the law.
LTC Lakin update
safeguardourconsititution (APF) has an affidavit from LTG T. McInerney in support of LTC Lakin’s discovery request.
Lawyers interested in the legal merits of the issue will likely find themselves dissatisfied with the affidavit. It is a combination of justification for LTC Lakin’s contumacy and reasons why the discovery should be granted. There is no comment on the general failure of most of the rest of the officer corps in continuing to obey unlawful orders. They have not posted the request or motion in support of any request. Once again failing to give full disclosure.
The affidavit appears to also justify the discovery request as a need for public disclosure. This would be IMHO an abuse of process. The purpose of discovery in a criminal proceeding is to aid the defense, not to aid public disclosure for disclosures sake.
Fort Gillem shooting update 2
Attorneys for a disgruntled Army Reserve soldier who fatally shot his supervisor after his vacation was denied say his fasting to meet stringent military weight guidelines left him in a trancelike state.
(This courtroom sketch shows Army Reserve Sgt. Rashad Valmont during military hearing Monday, Aug. 30, 2010 at Fort McPherson, Ga. Attorney William Cassara, not shown, said Valmont was dehydrated, exhausted and delirious when he burst into Master Sgt. Pedro Mercado’s office in nearby Fort Gillem in June and shot him six times. (AP Photo/Richard Miller) (Richard Miller – AP))
The internets
Two items relevant to the internet, privacy, and the Fourth Amendment. Orwell would be . . .
Orin S. Kerr, Applying the Fourth Amendment to the Internet: A General Approach, 62(4) STANFORD L. REV. 1005 (2010).
This Article proposes a general approach to applying the Fourth Amendment to the Internet. It assumes that courts will try to apply the Fourth Amendment to the Internet so that the Fourth Amendment has the same basic function online that it has offline. The Article reaches two major conclusions. First, Fourth Amendment protections online should depend on whether the data is content or non-content information. The contents of communications, like e-mail and remotely stored files, ordinarily should be protected. On the other hand, non-content information, such as IP addresses and e-mail addresses, ordinarily should not be protected. Second, courts should ordinarily require a search warrant if the government seeks to obtain the contents of protected Internet communications. Further, the scope of warrants should be based on individual users rather than individual accounts.
New ACCA case
ACCA has released an unpublished opinion in United States v. Delagarza. It’s an odd case.
A military judge sitting as a general court-martial convicted appellant, pursuant to his pleas, of violating a general order, false official statement, and two specifications of larceny (from his fellow soldiers), in violation of Articles 92, 107, and 121, Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. §§ 892, 907, and 921 [hereinafter UCMJ]. The military judge sentenced appellant to a bad-conduct discharge, confinement for eighteen months, and reduction to the grade of E-1. The military judge further recommended that only twelve months of confinement be approved, if appellant made full restitution. The convening authority, as an act of clemency, limited confinement to fifteen months, and otherwise approved the adjudged sentence.
In his brief, appellant raises one assignment of error, post-trial ineffective assistance of counsel, which warrants discussion, but no relief. (Emphasis added.)
Ramrod Five update 5
According to the Olympian:
A total of 12 soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord face charges in a widening web of alleged misdeeds and conspiracy from their yearlong deployment to Afghanistan. . . .
The seven new defendants were charged this month with 33 charges, with the common thread being conspiracy to commit assault. It was not clear Wednesday who was the target of their alleged assault, although five of them are also charged with striking a fellow soldier.
Ramrod Five update 4
Last December, Army Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs began joking with other Soldiers about how easy it would be to “toss a grenade” at Afghan civilians and kill them, according to statements made by fellow platoon members to military investigators. . . .
The Seattle Times has reviewed court documents — filed by a defense attorney with a U.S. Army magistrate — that summarize some of the evidence in the case. The Times also has interviewed attorneys for three of the defendants. The documents give new insight into how the murder plot may have evolved, but they give few clues about motives.
Davila case all but over
KOMONews.com reports that:
The Army specialist who admits she murdered a Pierce County couple then kidnapped their baby two years ago will spend the rest of her life behind bars without the possibility of parole.
In the conclusion to the court martial of Specialist Ivette Davila, military judge Colonel Stephen R. Henley also reduced Davila’s rank, took away all pay and allowances, and gave her a dishonorable discharge from the Army.