Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog

Coast Guard CCA sets-aside United States v. Bond

March 22, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

United States v. Bond.

Before this court, Appellant has assigned the following errors:
I.
The military judge erred when he denied the defense motion to dismiss Charges I and III for prior jeopardy.
II.
An unsuspended bad-conduct discharge is an inappropriately severe punishment for the crimes of which Appellant was convicted.
III.
Appellant’s Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights were denied when he was prohibited from recording the Article 32 investigation, and by the subsequent denial of his motion for a new Article 32 investigation.

We exercise our Article 66, UCMJ authority and set aside the findings and sentence.

Hasan update

March 22, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

MySAnews reports that:

Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, charged in November’s shooting rampage at Fort Hood that left 13 people dead and 32 others wounded, will be moved from San Antonio to a county jail near the military post.

Bell County Sheriff Dan Smith issued a statement Monday, saying Bell County commissioners court formalized a contract with Fort Hood officials in preparation for receiving Hasan at the jail in Belton.

Up periscope WE200310

March 21, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Rapid City Journal reports that:

Government prosecutors dismissed sexual assault charges against an Ellsworth Air Force Base airman when the alleged victim did not appear at an Article 32 hearing for Sr. Airman Vinicus Santana on Tuesday.

Santana is scheduled for a court martial on April 20 for a shooting incident in Rapid City that injured another airman.

Search Incident to Arrest

March 20, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Thanks to Fourthamendement.com, here is an article about Arizona v. Gant.

Arizona v. Gant: Does it Matter? by Barbara E. Armacost of the University of Virginia School of Law in 2009 S.Ct. Rev. __ (2010).

And from the abstract:

Near collision at sea?

March 20, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Militarycorruption.com has some lengthy pieces about the USS COWPENS and its former CO. Here is an interesting theme to go with the picture:

Holly Graf, the female "Captain Bligh," is highly disliked and even hated by many Navy women. They feel the foul-mouthed martinet, relieved of command of the USS Cowpens for "cruelty and maltreatment of her crew," has set back female advances in the Navy for many years.

MC also points out the consistent misunderstanding of the CO being reduced in rank, rather than the actual event which was being detached for cause.

Crime Labs

March 20, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

I’ve posted before about issues with forensic testing and police controlled laboratories (including military drug testing laboratories). Here is an article from my old crim law professor, a former Army JA. You’ve also heard me frequently talk about confirmatory bias in regard to police investigations and other investigations.

Paul C. Gianelli, Independent Crime Laboratories: The Problem of Motivational and Cognitive Bias, to be published in the Utah Law Review.

One of the most controversial recommendations in the National Academy of Sciences report on forensic science — Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: The Path Forward — concerns the removal of crime laboratories from the administrative control of law enforcement agencies. For decades scholars have commented on the “inbred bias of crime laboratories affiliated with law enforcement agencies.” Some commentators have proposed independent laboratories as the remedy for this problem, and in 2002, the Illinois Governor’s Commission on Capital Punishment proposed the establishment of an independent state crime laboratory. This essay documents the problems that triggered the NAS Report’s recommendation. It also examines the counter arguments as well as alternative approaches, including additional measures that should protect forensic analyses from improper influence.

New Navy judges

March 20, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Thanks to CAAFLog for a list of potential new Department of the Navy MJ’s.

Maj Troy H. Campbell, USMC, CDR Robert J. Crow, JAGC, USN, CAPT Terry C. Ganzel, JAGC, USNR, CDR George Glenn Gerding, JAGC, USNR, CDR John S. Han, JAGC, USNR, CDR Donald C. King, JAGC, USN, CDR Brian C. Lansing, JAGC, USNR, LCDR M. J. Luken, JAGC, USN, CDR Monte G. Miller, JAGC, USNR, LCDR Robert P. Monahan Jr., JAGC, USN, CDR W. A. Record, JAGC, USN, CDR Aaron C. Rugh, JAGC, USN.

Wuterich update

March 19, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Military.com reports that:

A four-star general will testify at a pretrial hearing in the biggest criminal case against U.S. troops to arise from the Iraq war, a Marine Corps spokesman said Thursday.

Gen. James Mattis is scheduled to address a military judge Monday on a defense motion to dismiss charges against Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich on grounds of undue command influence, said the spokesman, Lt. Col. David Griesmer.

NMCCA decides Denedo

March 19, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

NMCCA has it’s opinion in United States v. Denedo, the petition for error coram nobis that his been winding its way through the courts, include the United States Supreme Court.

Essentially the court finds that even if there were IAC, petitioner has not established prejudice.

Back to CAAF?

The next SCOTUS Justice?

March 18, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

How appealing refers to:

A case the U.S. Supreme Court has taken up over a Christian group’s challenge to UC Hastings College of the Law’s nondiscrimination policy for student groups could end up influencing the political debate over a possible vacancy on the court this summer.

In many ways, the case puts 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Diane P. Wood, one of the leading contenders for the eventual opening, in the same position that then-2nd Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor was in last year over her role in a case before the court last term.