Court Martial Appeals Blog
This is a blog focusing on Court Martial Appeals Issues.
Navy-Marine Court of Criminal Appeals holds that victim’s right to not be excluded from an Article 32 hearing has limits.
Recently, in A.M. v. United States and Densford, the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals (NMCCA) reviewed a claim from an alleged sexual assault victim that she was excluded from parts of the preliminary Article 32 hearing in violation of Article 6b of the UCMJ. Under Article 6b(a)(3), the alleged victim of a UCMJ offense … Read more
Can Power Bars get you Court-Martialed?
At least in the Air Force, the answer appears to be “yes.” In the case of United States v. Pugh, the United States Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the trial judge’s decision to dismiss court-martial charges against Major Pugh. Major Pugh was charged with use of drugs, and willful dereliction of duty by … Read more
NMCCA reverses findings due to conflicts of interest between military prosecutor and military defense counsel.
On 31 May 2017, in United States v. Hale, the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals (NMCCA) reversed the findings and sentence in a marine court-martial based on severe conflicts of interest found between the lead defense counsel and the lead prosecutor. A rehearing was authorized. In this case, appellant was convicted of serious offenses … Read more
ACCA analyzes exceptions allowing release of mental health records.
On 24 May 2017, in LK v. Sanchez, the Army Court of Criminal Appeals (ACCA) attempted to clarify some aspects of the Military Rule of Evidence (M.R.E.) 513 which states that communications between a psychotherapist and his or her patient are privileged communications. The petitioner in the case before ACCA was the alleged child victim … Read more
CAAF defines the different types of defenses.
Recently, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) reviewed an Army case called United States v. Feliciano. Private (PV2) Feliciano was convicted of two specifications of attempted aggravated sexual assault. The evidence produced at the court-martial showed that PV2 Feliciano had sexual intercourse in a barracks room with a female soldier who had … Read more
CAAF and ACCA agree, a failure to object to a missing instruction means forfeiture.
If you or your loved one is facing a court-martial, it is crucial that you hire an attorney with experience. It takes a very experienced attorney to know exactly when to object and what objections to make at your court-martial. Even if an objection is overruled at the court-martial, you may have success on appeal. … Read more
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