Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog
In United States v. Lopez, Army Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed, but there is no opinion on the Army court website and I don’t see it in Lexis.
The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces has specified an issue for review in this case as follows:
No. 16-0487/AR. U.S. v. Mario I. Lopez. CCA 20140943 [2016 CAAF LEXIS 773]. On consideration of the petition for grant of review of the decision of the United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals, it is ordered that said petition is hereby granted on the following issue specified by the Court:
WHETHER THE MILITARY JUDGE ERRED BY ADMITTING THE TESTIMONY OF APPELLANT’S WIFE, MRS. CL, WHO TESTIFIED THAT APPELLANT’S APOLOGY TO HIS STEPSON MEANT THAT APPELLANT WAS “LOOSELY ADMITTING GUILT” TO CRIMINAL CONDUCT, AND BY ALSO ADMITTING THE TESTIMONY OF MS. NM, WHO TESTIFIED THAT APPELLANT “HAD PROBABLY RAPED” HIS WIFE BECAUSE MRS. CL HAD RECENTLY RESEARCHED “SPOUSAL RAPE” ON THE INTERNET.
I’m going to presume that some argument was made under MRE 701 as to lay opinion testimony? One hopes the defense made an objection based on the testimony as being improper opinion.