A Fort Benning soldier has been sentenced to life in a military prison for the slaying of an Army trainee who was repeatedly stabbed with a knife in his barracks last year.
Reports WDBJ7.com.
A hearing will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday for Capt. Herbert “Mark” Hamilton III, who was charged Nov. 3 with multiple offenses, including indecent acts, sodomy, fraud and conduct unbecoming an officer.
The downloading of CP?
This local story from Virginia, which is headlined "Navy officer gets 40 months for child porn," reflects recent debates over both the federal child porn sentencing guidelines and showing leniency for those who served our country in the military. Here are the details:
A Navy lieutenant commander who served in Iraq with an elite Riverine unit was sentenced today to 40 months in prison after admitting he downloaded child pornography. John J. Hall blamed his actions in part on post traumatic stress disorder, a claim that the judge in the case took into account in granting leniency.
I’ve commented before about The Conscience of a Lawyer, the story of a how could you represent a really bad person. Here is an excellent article about Colonel Galligan who is representing Major Nidal Milak Hasan for the shootings at Fort Hood.
The Dallas News.com
The Army Times reports that the prosecution is being bolstered for the court-martial of Major Hasan for his court-martial at Fort Hood.
A senior military official said Friday that a new lead prosecutor has been appointed in the Fort Hood shooting case, a man who secured the death penalty in a similar case four years ago.
Col. Michael Mulligan will head the prosecution of Maj. Nidal Hasan, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the investigation.
Having avoided a court-martial, it appears that LtCol Chessani has obtained a recommendation that he be allowed to retire in his current grade.
A three-member panel found Friday that a former battalion commander charged with failing to fully disclose and investigate the killing of two dozen Iraqi men, women and children in 2005 should retire at his current rank.
The panel of senior officers decided that Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani “demonstrated substandard performance of duty, but did not commit any acts of misconduct,” a Marine Corps spokeswoman, Maj. Erin Wiener, said in an email.
A sailor accused of fatally shooting a man outside a Florida nightclub in 2007 will be court-martialed on a murder charge next week at Naval Station Mayport.
Navy Times reports, the court-martial will be for killing a owner of a night club in Jacksonville, FL. The article cites Article 111, UCMJ, but I suspect they mean 118.
Kenneth Jerome Nelson was once celebrated as a war hero and the unofficial caretaker of a monument dedicated to Vietnam veterans in the shadow of the California State Capitol.
Now, he’s known as a liar.
The veterans activist pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Sacramento to wearing a Silver Star that had not been awarded to him, a misdemeanor. Nelson, 60, will be sentenced March 1 to a violation of the federal Stolen Valor Act, which prohibits wearing unearned military decorations, authorities said.
That is Professor Colin Miller’s entree to:
The Shrink(ing) Privilege, Take 2: New York Times Article Reports That Exceptions To Military Psychotherapist-Patient Privilege Are Hindering Therapy.
My post is here on the NYT article discussing the military patient-psychotherapist privilege at court-martial and under the UCMJ.
FederalEvidence blog has posted:
Fifth Circuit addresses an open issue concerning admission of medical statements under the Confrontation Clause; circuit also notes that “there is no constitutional right to confront the victim of a crime” where the government elects not to call the victim at trial, in United States v. Santos, _ F.3d _ (5th Cir. Dec. 2, 2009) (No. 08-31225).
On the issue of “whether out-of-court statements made during medical treatment are testimonial,” the circuit was guided by two recent Supreme Court decision. The first case involved dicta from the Court’s most recent Confrontation Clause decision in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, noting that “medical reports created for treatment purposes . . . would not be testimonial.” Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 129 S. Ct. at 2533 n.2.
Briscoe v. Virginia, a post Crawford and Melendez-Diaz case is scheduled to be argued at the U. S. Supreme Court on 11 January 2010. Professor Friedman will argue for petitioner Briscoe.
Professor Friedman notes that, “I have just served and filed the reply in Briscoe. You can read it by clicking here.”
All of the prior documents about this case can be found at SCOTUSWiki. This case is of importance to military justice practitioners. There are several cases pending within military appellate courts that might be affected by Briscoe, as well as some cases pending at court-martial. Some of my prior comments are here.
Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog