Court-Martial Trial Practice Blog

Georgia Sends Sex Offenders Into the Woods.

September 28, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

This is the headline of an article on TheSlatest.

Zoning laws have forced sex offenders in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta, Ga., to live in a makeshift camp in the woods—in spite of the fact that several of them own homes. According to the Associated Press, registered sex offenders in Marietta are being directed by parole officers to an encampment behind an office park—one of the few places in the town where offenders can live without violating zoning laws.

This is not the only location where sex offenders are being driven to homelessness. Florida has a particular town where the sex offenders are being driven to live under a freeway.

Does this help or hurt? Does forcing a sex offender into homelessness and drifting aid in the purpose of knowing where they are or JNIMBY.

Jury selection to begin in Boyle court-martial

September 28, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

This is the headline of an article by John Ramsey in the Fayetteville Observer, 28 September 2009. There are plenty of other articles coming out because of the interest in the case.

An Army sergeant charged with involuntary manslaughter asked this morning for a jury made up of one-third enlisted soldiers.

Sgt. Justin A. Boyle is one of seven soldiers accused of accidentally killing Pfc. Luke Brown last summer after he ran wildly into the woods behind the Ugly Stick Saloon.

Mistress reveals the murderous plots that led to a senior enlisted sailor’s brutal attack on his own family

September 28, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

This is the headline of a titillating article in by Travis Tritten, Stars and Stripes, Pacific edition, Wednesday, September 30, 2009

MANILA, Philippines — Master Chief Petty Officer John W. Bench Jr. appeared to be a model sailor on the rise, headed for a new assignment carrying greater status and expanded responsibilities.

But on Aug. 30, just a week before he was to become command master chief of the U.S. Navy’s Command Task Force 76, Bench killed his son, bludgeoned his wife with a baseball bat and injured his daughter in their home on Sasebo Naval Base, Japan.

Then Bench fled on his motorcycle and veered into a bus on an expressway. He stood up and was struck and killed by an oncoming car.

Nature of soldiers’ actions to be focus of court-martial

September 27, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Sun Sep 27, 2009, by John Ramsey, Staff writer, The Fayetteville Observer.

Sgt. Justin A. Boyle recognized the men who showed up at the Ugly Stick Saloon in July 2008.

Like the men Boyle had accompanied to the bar, they were part of his intelligence unit in the 82nd Airborne Division.

The prosecutor’s fallacy.

September 26, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

This is the name given to statistical errors that can arise when deciding the probability that a DNA sample is that of the accused. This is potentially more meaningful than usual to Troy Brown who was convicted of sexual assault and attempted murder. He has a twin brother.

This transposition of the conditional probability can produce results that range from the approximately correct to the grossly inaccurate. Without discussing the extent of the mathematical error, Mueller’s letter stated that this transposition was "so common it has been given a special name, the prosecutor’s fallacy."

Indeed, the fallacy abounds in the statements of judges, defense counsel, and journalists. Statistics textbooks, evidence casebooks and treatises, and judicial opinions all caution against it.

Watada a done deal.

September 26, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

The Army grants the officer’s resignation under "other than honorable conditions"

By Gregg K. Kakesako, Honolulu Star Bulletin, Sep 26, 2009

First Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned military officer to refuse deployment to Iraq because he believed it was an illegal war, has won his three-year legal battle with the Army.

Up periscope.

September 26, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Army to allow Iraq war objector to resign

By AUDREY McAVOY (AP) – 5 hours ago

HONOLULU — The Army is allowing the first commissioned officer to be court-martialed for refusing to go to Iraq to resign from the service, his attorney said late Friday.

Scandal: USCG company commander forms inappropriate relationships with recruits.

September 25, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

That’s the title of the article in Shore News Today, by Claire Lowe. Previous posts about the case are here and here.

Ms. Lowe’s article is a little more rich in detail of what appears to have happened that lead up to the court-martial.

NCIS Offering Cash Reward for Info

September 24, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

The title of a post on Military.com, September 23, 2009, by Ben Avey

YOKOSUKA, Japan – The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Far East field office has started a public information campaign to get the word out about rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a person who commits or conspires to commit espionage. The rewards can run as high as $500,000.

In light of this incident – –

Feds: NC terror suspects targeted US military

file photo provided by the Department of Justice, Daniel Patrick Boyd is shown.

By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer Mike Baker, Associated Press Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. – Two North Carolina terrorism suspects plotted to kill U.S. military personnel and one of them obtained maps of a Marine Corps base in Virginia to plan an attack, prosecutors said Thursday.

Senate Judiciary Committee Action Stalls On Reporter Shield Bill (S. 448)

September 24, 2009 | The Law Office of Philip D. Cave

Check out FederalEvidenceReview blog.