William Cassara 
We are thrilled to report that the Army Court of Criminal Appeals set aside and dismissed our client’s convictions for two specifications of sexual assault. We argued that the military judge improperly created the appearance of bias in favor of the government because of her inappropriate conduct toward our client’s trial defense counsel. The military … Read more
The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces recently released its opinion in United States v. Simpson. Gunnery Sergeant (GySgt) Simpson had communicated with a woman, MB, whom he encouraged to take pictures and videos of another individual while in various states of undress without that individual’s consent. MB had complied and, at GySgt Simpson’s … Read more
The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces [CAAF] released a decision in United States v. Norwood on February 24, 2021. Petty Officer Norwood’s niece alleged that he had sexually abused her. At trial, the prosecutors made several improper and inflammatory arguments to the members. Prosecutors can make strong arguments on the state of the … Read more
From 1986 to 2006, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) listed several offenses as eligible for the death penalty. One of those offenses was rape of an adult. The UCMJ stated that offenses “punishable by death” had no statute of limitations. This meant that these types of cases could be brought to trial at … Read more
The Navy Discharge Review Board recently amended our client’s DD-214 to allow him to reenlist and continue his 16 year career.
On 17 November 2020 I was privileged to argue before the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (C.A.A.F.) for the 42nd time.
The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) released its first opinion of the October 2020 term. In United States v. White, the Court upheld a military judge’s ruling excluding evidence discovered during a search.
Our firm recently represented an Army officer who had been assigned to lead a Civil Affairs detachment in Ethiopia in 2009. He served admirably there, establishing relationships with local leaders and fostering cooperation with the local population that led to the collection of substantive intelligence in the area. At the end of the deployment, a … Read more
The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) underwent several significant changes as a result of the 2016 Military Justice Act. Those changes went into effect on January 1, 2019 and include a new approach to Judge Advocate General (JAG) review of cases that do not qualify for appellate review. Pre-2019 JAG Review Prior to 2019, … Read more
We are thrilled to report that the Army Board for Corrections of Military Records (ABCMR) upgraded a former Army private’s Other Than Honorable Discharge from 1984! Our client endured a lot of racism during his short enlistment in the Army. One day, he borrowed a VCR from the breakroom, as it was customary to do … Read more
