(No pun intended.)

The Army said Monday it has appointed an investigating officer for an Article 32 hearing, which will determine if there is sufficient evidence to proceed with a court-martial for Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who’s charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder in the deadly shooting rampage on Nov. 5 at Fort Hood’s Soldier Readiness Center.

KWTX.com reports.

The Reid Technique is one of the more known and familiar interrogation and interview techniques used by law enforcement.  We mostly become familiar with interrogation methods because of court-martial pretrial motions practice to suppress coerced or false confessions.  The value of various police interrogation techniques is not limited to police interrogations.  A trial counsel or a defense counsel preparing for a court-martial can benefit from knowing, understanding, and practicing some of the law enforcement interview and  interrogation techniques.  (NOTE, it is unethical for an attorney to lie during a witness interview, be careful, that is one technique that is not permitted.  And it is unethical for a counsel to fail to identify themselves as a prosecutor or defense counsel when interviewing witnesses.)

Before I begin an interview, especially with a complaining witness in sexual assault case, I want to know about that person.  At the first contact, and from then on, I constantly assess the person:  their emotions, their physical and emotional responses, their word choice, their mannerisms.  I’m doing that because I want to establish rapport.  (You should of course do the same to the client.)  I’ve said this many times, but I’ve frequently been the one to educate the prosecution witnesses on the process and what’s going on and why.  That has benefitted me and my client numerous times.  The “victim” appreciates you for telling them what’s going on.  I cannot remember how many times a “victim” tells me that no one will tell them what’s going on.  Defense counsel — this is your moment to establish rapport.

If you establish rapport with a witness you will get more information, the witness will respond better to you, and the witness may be less antagonistic to the client.  I had not realized that at least one author calls this “isopraxis.”  I know it as mirroring.

Question, if he served at least three years in the Army, and he left active duty as a PFC, is it not likely that he was disciplined at some point and reduced in rank?

With the aid of Maggies Farm (Stolen Honor as a Pick-up Line?), Moonbattery, (Captain Chinpubes below was spotted at a grand Victory party for Moonbat Houston Mayor Annise Parker), and cdr salamander, here is a better shot and a breakdown of the awards claimed by

Well, lets review the "awards" at least. You can see a high-res here and a full-frontal here.image
His decorations include;

I noted earlier that some accused of violating the Stolen Valor Act are challenging it’s constitutionality in situations where the person was a braggart, but did not gain or attempt to gain through the fraud.  Here is a new case of someone who likely did gain – a city job?

image

M. McBride
Contributed photo

in Houston Chronicle

A Houston man was charged on Friday with allegedly impersonating a U.S. Army general by wearing a uniform decorated with more military honors than earned by famed Gen. George Patton.

The FBI charged 44-year-old Michael P. McManus with five federal misdemeanors, accusing him of unlawfully wearing an unauthorized uniform embellished with some of the U.S. military’s most distinguished combat medals.

He is one of about 50 people charged under the 2006 Stolen Valor Act, which makes it a federal crime to falsely claim to have received a medal from the military, regardless of whether the accused does not try to profit from the deception.

One man bilked a Veterans Affairs program out of huge sums of money, while a woman received some $40,000 in tuition after telling employees at her university that she was an Air Force pilot flying in Iraq on weekends.

The Houston Chronicle reports.

According to the Department of Justice, McManus did actually serve in the Army between the years of 1984 and 1987. However, he never achieved a rank higher than private first class, nor did earn the Military Combat Awards and insignia he is accused of wearing.

As we first pointed out Friday night, those medals include two Distinguished Service crosses, a Purple Heart and a medal around his neck indicating he was the commander of the British Empire.

ABC reports.

09-10 Winter 026 09-10 Winter 023 Not going too far, how about you?

Meanwhile – – –

A Robins Air Force Base master sergeant was dishonorably discharged and sentenced to 50 years in prison after he was found guilty of engaging in sexual contact with several minors, according to The Robins Rev-Up, the Robins Air Force Base installation newspaper.

A new order from Marine Corps Forces Command explicitly prohibits Marines from using a number of legal substances, including the herbal blend Spice, to achieve an altered state of consciousness or a druglike “high.” . . . The order, dated Jan. 27, bars Marines from using, possessing, attempting to possess, manufacturing or introducing onto military installations any of 10 substances that cause “legal highs.” Spice and salvia divinorum, including their many aliases, are at the top of the list.

JDNews.com reports.

According to MARFORPAC Order 5355.2, the substances known as Spice and Salvia Divinorum, while not listed as a controlled substance and highly accessible by service members, are hereby prohibited to all service members assigned within the MARFORPAC chain of command.

Capt. Michael A. Webb, 46, of Coto de Caza, Calif., was found unresponsive Sunday at 7:21 a.m. and was later pronounced dead at the scene, said Lt. Col. Roger Galbriath.

Webb had been placed under pretrial restraint as a result of the serious nature of his misconduct, because he failed to report to Quantico Marine Corps base when ordered, and because he was determined by an independent reviewing officer to be a flight risk.

InsideNoVA.com reports.

Here’s a link to the DOJ list of principal FOIA contacts at federal agencies.  I’ve added this as a link to my list of important sites.

Here’s a link to Mark Bennett, 16 Simple Rules for Better Jury Selection, 22(1) The Jury Expert, Jan. 2010.  The highly entertaining Bennett has some interesting rules:  The Shrek Rule, the Blind Date Rule, and the Beer Pong Rule.  Behind the entertaining naming there is value in what he says, it’s just better than a boring ol’ textbook.

I have posted about this issue here, here, and here.

As noted previously on this blog, there have been some notable recent examples of judges reducing a sentence based on the hardships a defendant previously suffered as a result of military service. Now, as detailed in this local article from Kansas, this concept is getting some legislative attention:

Judges would be able to reduce sentences for defendants who are combat veterans and have post-traumatic stress disorder, under a bill being considered by the Kansas Legislature.

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