Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog

Stolen Valor news [corrected]

January 7, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

A retired Coast Guard chief warrant officer 2 who claimed to be a decorated and combat-hardened SEAL — and managed to get a disability rating from the government — has pleaded guilty to wearing combat awards he did not earn.

He also claimed to have earned the Silver Star, Bronze Star with “V” for valor, Purple Heart with four stars, a Combat Action Ribbon and Vietnam War-era awards. The Coast Guard clerk bought the story and added the awards to Barnhart’s DD 214. Later DD 214 alterations would add a Navy Commendation with “V” device, Presidential Unit Citation with three stars, and Vietnamese Medal of Honor First and Second Class.

reports Navy Times.

Major Hasan news today

January 7, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

An unarmed man tried to visit the army psychiatrist charged in a deadly shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas on Wednesday by posing as his lawyer, officials said.

When that ruse didn’t work, the man told hospital security that he was Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan’s doctor.

Reports Military.com.

Major Hasan update

January 7, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Apparently the R.C.M. 706 Board has been appointed and is projecting an early February report.

Army Times reports.

Post-post-trial

January 7, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Clemency & Parole after a lengthy court-martial sentence can be hard to get. For Navy and Marine Corps cases parole requires a parole plan and a place to live.

The Camp Pendleton-based squad leader is serving an 11-year sentence for killing an unarmed Iraqi civilian. But the sheriff in his hometown in Massachusetts wants to hire him. Reporting from San Diego – A Marine from Camp Pendleton, convicted of murdering an unarmed Iraqi civilian, has a job waiting with the sheriff’s department in his hometown in Massachusetts once he is released, a Navy parole board was told Wednesday.

LA Times reports.

Rapping rap

January 6, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

An Army specialist is in jail, accused of making threats against fellow soldiers, including in a vulgar, violent rap song that describes shooting those responsible for his stop-loss orders.

Spc. Marc Hall, an Iraq veteran based at Fort Stewart, Ga., has been in custody since early December. He’s been charged with “conduct prejudicial to the good order and discipline of the armed forces,” allegedly threatening violence on multiple occasions, according to Army charge sheets.

Stars & Stripes reports.

SEAL update

January 6, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Navy prosecutors have asked a judge to delay the trials of two SEALs accused in connection with the alleged assault of a reported al-Qaida terrorist — apparently because of evidence issues.

Navy Times reports.

If as is indicated there are classified document issues, then it is clear this trial will take time to complete. Having participated in many classified trials, with one ongoing, over the years I would say that it will take several months to resolve the issues. Each of the counsel may well have to get security clearances established. The time to get clearances will be a function of the classification levels involved. And then there may be Mil. R. Evid. 505 issues.

Cold dead fish

January 4, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

When a judge decides a motion at court-martial they will present the facts they have found, discuss the law, and make their conclusion. On appeal, when the military judge makes proper findings of fact, the court will accept those facts for the purpose of review unless there is an abuse of discretion and the facts found are “clearly erroneous.”

C.A.A.F. seems to have this definition, among several, of what clearly erroneous means.

At least one court has defined the clearly-erroneous standard by stating that it must be "more than just maybe or probably wrong; it must … strike us as wrong with the force of a five-week-old, unrefrigerated dead fish." Parts and Electric Motors Inc. v. Sterling Electric, Inc., 866 F.2d 228, 233 (7th Cir. 1988).

Behenna update

January 3, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

CAAFLog has this case among the Top-10 for 2009.

Vicki Behenna has 10 minutes to plead her son’s case.

Where does she begin?

Major Hasan

January 3, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the accused Fort Hood shooter and psychologist, has been moved out of Brooke Army Medical Center’s ICU and into its general care unit. Hasan was hospitalized the day of the Fort Hood shootings—November 5—with several serious gunshot wounds.

Reports tothecenter.com.

Military death penalty

January 3, 2010 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

The court-martial of Gen. William Hull — who gave up Detroit to the British without a fight during the War of 1812 — began Jan. 3, 1814.

Deemed a coward, Hull was found guilty of dereliction of duty and sentenced to death, but President James Madison later reduced it because of the officer’s impressive Revolutionary War record of service. Historians later concluded that Hull’s actions in August 1812 were correct.

The Detroit Free Press reports.