William Cassara
The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces recently issued a decision in United States v. Keago. Midshipman Keago was charged with attempted sexual assault, sexual assault, burglary, and obstruction of justice related to the alleged sexual assaults of three other midshipmen from the US Naval Academy. He was found guilty of these offenses and … Read more
Here’s a few quick hits on recent accomplishments from the firm: Assisted servicemember in having her name removed from the subject title block of a CID investigation for a failed urinalysis. Servicemember mistakenly was given a controlled substance by a family member for pain, which resulted in a failed test. After advocating at both CID … Read more
The Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals recently decided the case of United States v. Colletti. SSgt Colletti executed a scheme to get women to send him nude pictures of themselves. His plan consisted of posing as “Jenicae” and her girlfriend “Nicki.” Operating as these two personas, SSgt Colletti was able to get two different … Read more
The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) recently decided the case of United States v. Palik. TSgt Palik was court-martialed over several charges involving domestic assault of his girlfriend, a fellow Airman. He was convicted of two specifications of assault consummated by a battery and one specification of domestic violence by strangulation. He … Read more
We represented an Army CPT being investigated for violations of the Army’s Equal Opportunity Policy and counterproductive leadership. After conducting our own investigation, we soon realized that the AR 15-6 was heavily biased and inaccurate. We submitted a strong rebuttal with many letters of support from leaders in the unit. The brigade commander disapproved the … Read more
We recently successfully petitioned the Naval Discharge Review Board on behalf of an enlisted reservist Marine to upgrade an Other than Honorable to General, Under Honorable Conditions. The Marine had undiagnosed PTSD that contributed to his absence from drill. The NDRB agreed that the previous characterization was unfair based on his combat service and excellent post-service … Read more
In 2009, Army Major Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, walked into a Soldier Readiness Processing Center on Fort Hood, Texas and opened fire with a semiautomatic handgun equipped with laser sights. He killed thirteen people and wounded thirty-one others. The attack ended when he was shot by responding law enforcement. As a result of his … Read more