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Anyone who knows anything about death penalty cases knows that allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel (IAC) will figure significantly in an appeal.  It’s given that no matter how hard they work they’ll be accused of incompetence.

Today, the Supreme Court summarily reversed a Sixth Circuit case in which the circuit court found IAC.  Here is a link to the court’s order in Bobby v. Van Hook.  It is of interest because the court was critical of the circuit courts reliance on the ABA Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases.  Here are the Guidelines.

satin-collapsable-tophat_sm /tip SCOTUSBlog.

JDNews of Jacksonville, NC, reports:

Private Jonathan Law, 21, was placed in custody of authorities at the Camp Lejeune Brig Sunday, for the alleged homicide of Cpl. Joshua E. Hartzell, 22, according to a release from 2d Marine Logistics Group.

Law was moved Saturday night from Pitt County Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for self-inflicted wounds, to the brig, according to the release.

Huffington Post reports:

Where Will They Get the Troops? Preparing Undeployables for the Afghan Front

As the Obama administration debates whether to send tens of thousands of extra troops to Afghanistan, an already overstretched military is increasingly struggling to meet its deployment numbers. Surprisingly, one place it seems to be targeting is military personnel who go absent without leave (AWOL) and then are caught or turn themselves in.

WWAY NewsChannel 3 reports:

image Twenty-one-year-old Private Jonathan Law is in custody for the murder of another Marine early Friday morning. Officials still have their own questions regarding the incident, and are saying little about what they do know.

ENC Today.com reports that Pvt Law have attempted suicide.

CAAFLog has this interesting post and question about a new (?) clause in standard Navy PTA’s that remove good time credit.

This Agreement constitutes my request for, and the convening authority’s approval of, deferment of all confinement suspended pursuant to the terms of this Agreement and deferment for the days of “good time” (as defined by SECNAVINST 1640.9B) that I may earn while in confinement prior to the convening authority taking action on the sentence.  The period of deferment will run from the date of sentencing until the date the convening authority acts on the sentence.

And here is CAAFlog’s question:

The Leaf Chronicle reports:

Military training takes many forms, and it doesn’t always involve guns and explosives, occasionally the weapon of choice is law books and verbal assaults.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces on Wednesday heard the case of an Air Force staff sergeant at Fort Campbell, giving new military lawyers a glimpse of the court in which they will someday argue cases.

imageFederal Evidence blog  has a nice update on S.448 which is the Senate version of H.R. 985.  Basically, although termed the “Free Flow of Information Act,” it is the reporters privilege rule that has been circulating for some time now.  Actual status?  According to the bloggers:

Whether the Senate Judiciary Committee adopts the revision to S. 448 or not, the prospect for a quick passage of a media shield law would pose a challenge. At the present time Congressional leaders are suggesting that the session would not extend long past November. Even if a revised S. 448 was passed by the Committee and received passage on the floor, it would still have to be reconciled with the House version of the measure, which departs from many of the standards set out in the revision to S. 448.

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