Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog

Brown-Bragg-first day of testimony.

September 30, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Court-martial witness says Brown choked soldier who pursued him, by John Ramsey
Staff writer with Fayetteville Observer.com.

Minutes after Pfc. Luke Brown scurried under a fence into the woods, he started choking the first soldier who went in after him.

Sgt. Christopher Mignocchi, the first witness called by prosecutors in the court-martial against Justin A. Boyle, described Tuesday the events leading up to Brown’s death last summer. Boyle is one of seven soldiers accused of involuntary manslaughter for Brown’s death.

Fallouja Marine pleads guilty.

September 29, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Fallujah defendant admits killing, pleads guilty to dereliction of duty

Sgt. Jermaine Nelson will not get any jail time and could get honorable discharge, attorney says. (Note: this comment is a potential problem. In the military system, the judge is not supposed to know the terms of the agreement until he or she announces the sentence in open court.)

Sgt Nelson pleaded guilty to two specifications of dereliction of duty in connection with the shooting death of an unarmed detainee during the opening hours of the November 2004 battle for the Iraqi city of Fallujah.

Potential SOFA case/issue?

September 29, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Accused brawl soldiers seek US justice

By Cathy Harper, ABC News, September 29, 2009 12:25:00

Police say the brawl involved at least 35 people, and was watched by 300 others. (Reuters: Stephen Hird) Two US soldiers have appeared in the Darwin Magistrates Court on charges relating to a brawl on Darwin’s nightclub strip. The magistrate says he has no authority to transfer the case to U.S. jurisdiction.

Actually he doesn’t need to, no double jeopardy. Here is a link to the U.S. – Australia Status of Forces Agreement.

ACCA has decided Gipson – an SJA case.

September 29, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

United States v. Gipson, ARMY 2007 0521 (A. Ct. Crim. App. 28 September 2009).

This case has an unusual [if mundane] procedural history.. . .

Appellant claims on appeal he was prejudiced by the SJA’s failure to serve him with new matters in the addendum, in violation of R.C.M. 1106(f)(7); and this court erred in its Reinert holding that (1) the government’s writ of prohibition was an extraordinary matter, and (2) the military judge did not have authority to grant appellant additional days of confinement.

Attorney-client privilege

September 29, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Here is a good post from FederalEvidence blog.

Inadvertent Disclosure Under FRE 502(b) Not Shown By Failure To Assert Privilege Promptly

Court denies motion to compel return of e-mail message after concluding the disclosure was not inadvertent under FRE 502(b) since defense counsel “had ample opportunity to discover and assert the claimed privileged status of the e-mail” and failed to do so, in Clarke v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., No. 08 Civ. 02400, slip op. (SDNY Apr. 10, 2009)

Sex offender registration.

September 29, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Cory Yung at SexCrimes is reporting:

DOJ issued a press release today announcing the first two jurisdictions to implement the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), part of the Adam Walsh Act. The two jurisdictions? Ohio and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (in Oregon). While applauded as a important achievement, there is no comment about the dysfunction California seems to be encountering.

Vaccine programs – Anthrax, now flu?

September 29, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

September 29, 2009, in Suits & Sentences.

Troops lose challenge to anthrax vaccination

Eight members of the U.S. military who challenged a mandatory anthrax vaccination have lost, again.

Like the phoenix this is an old story that is likely to rise again in light of the proposed DoD flu shot program. Don’t know about others, but I’ve already been contacted by several pregnant or nursing military personnel who want to refuse the flu vaccine because of concerns about their baby.

More on NCIS taping interrogations.

September 29, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Earlier comments on this subject are here and here.

In particular here is the new NCIS policy. NCIS video/audio taping is not new as this report suggests — Naval Criminal Investigative Service: Fraud Interview Policies Similar to Other Federal Law Enforcement Agencies (Letter Report, 04/07/97, GAO/NSIAD-97-117).

In fiscal year 1996, NCIS agents videotaped 56 interviews and 23 interrogations, 51 (or 65 percent) of which involved child abuse cases. Most of the remaining videotapings involved cases of assaults, homicides, and rapes. NCIS fraud agents said that they audiotape very few interviews.

Pendleton Fallouja trial.

September 29, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Marine set for court martial at Camp Pendleton in the death of an Iraqi prisoner

L.A. Now, September 28, 2009 | 8:56 pm

A court martial is to begin Tuesday at Camp Pendleton for the last of three Marines accused of killing unarmed prisoners during battle in Fallouja, Iraq.

Sgt. Jermaine Nelson, 28, is charged with unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty in the death of a prisoner during the first days of the Marines’ mission to clear insurgents from the Anbar province city in November 2004.

Brown CM, Bragg, today.

September 29, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Fayetteville Observer.com, by John Ramsey

Five enlisted men and four officers were selected Monday as the jury that will decide whether Sgt. Justin A. Boyle is guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a fellow paratrooper.

During jury selection Monday afternoon, a major and a colonel were dismissed, leaving a jury of four first sergeants, three majors, a lieutenant colonel and a sergeant major.