Court Martial Appeals Blog
This is a blog focusing on Court Martial Appeals Issues.
AFCCA Reverses Drug Conviction
This is an odd case for me to write about, because I was the counsel at trial, and we lost. But, because we properly preserved issues for appeal, the conviction was overturned on appeal. Sr. A Barbara Thomas was convicted of two specifications of drug use. Most of the evidence against her was from … Read more
Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals Opinion on Article 31(b) rights.
Welcome to the latest edition of Court-Martial Appeals Blog. On 25 April 2017, the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals (AFCCA) reviewed the conduct of agents working in the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) in United States v. Campbell. The AFCCA in Campbell determined that the military judge in the case did not … Read more
New CAAF Decision on Failure to Object at Trial
The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) recently decided the Army case of U.S. v. LTC Sean Ahern. LTC Ahern was convicted, contrary to his pleas of Not Guilty, of the sexual abuse of his step-daughter. He was sentenced to 17.5 years confinement and a dismissal. The issue on appeal was a … Read more
New Army Court of Criminal Appeals Decision
Welcome to the first installment of my Court-Martial Appeals blog. In this blog, I will attempt to analyze the most interesting and important appellate decisions from the various Courts of Criminal Appeals, and the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. This blog is mainly intended for non-lawyers, to hopefully give a glimpse of how … Read more
Military Appellate Law: Robust and Unique Protections for Servicemembers (Part IV)
In this blog series, I have discussed how servicemembers are protected by the two-tiered appellate system in the military (Part I). I also explained that there are a few unique appellate issues that may be argued by military appellants. In Part II of this series, I discussed the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel in … Read more
Military Appellate Law: Robust and Unique Protections for Servicemembers (Part III)
In this blog series, I have discussed how servicemembers are protected by the two-tiered appellate system in the military (Part I). I also explained that there are a few unique appellate issues that may be argued by military appellants. In Part II of this series, I discussed the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel in … Read more
Military Appellate Law: Robust and Unique Protections for Servicemembers (Part II)
In part I of this blog series on military appellate law, I discussed how the two-tiered appellate system works and how it provides unique protections for servicemembers appealing their court-martial results. In part I, I also explained that servicemembers can raise unique issues on appeal. The unique appellate issue I will discuss in this part … Read more
Military Appellate Law: Robust and Unique Protections for Servicemembers (Part I)
There used to be a day long ago where military justice was fast and furious. Servicemembers accused of crimes might have found themselves going from accusation to conviction quickly with almost no chance to present their case. Military justice has changed drastically for the better. The Uniform Code of Military Justice now offers an extraordinary … Read more
Court-Martial conviction overturned on appeal
I recently represented a Coast Guardsman who was convicted of sexual abuse of a child and a general disorder for making a statement to a child that was of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces. Two days prior to the court-martial, the alleged minor victim completely changed his story from the conduct alleged … Read more
What happens after the court-martial is over?
At the conclusion of the court-martial, the convening authority (usually the base commander) has the authority to either approve or disapprove the conviction and the sentence, either in whole or in part. This is commonly referred to as the clemency process of “1105 submission.” This is due to the fact that the authority to ask … Read more