Military Law Blog
Military Appellate Court Upholds Conviction of LTC for Conduct Unbecoming an Officer and Gentleman
Last month, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the highest military appellate court, issued its opinion in United States v. Gonzalez. In August 2021, LTC Gonzalez was out with friends at a bar in San Antonio. LTC Gonzalez was celebrating his upcoming retirement. A group of Navy junior enlisted Sailors were also at … Read more
Navy-Marine Corps Appellate Court Sets Aside Drug Conviction Over NCIS Interrogation
The Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals recently released its opinion in United States v. Eneliko. The Court set aside MA3 Eneliko’s conviction for wrongful use of cocaine after it found that the Military Judge did not properly analyze the defense’s suppression motion. MA3 Eneliko was being escorted to an appointment by a member of … Read more
Top Military Court Sets Aside Conviction for Brady Violation
Brady v. Maryland was decided by the United States Supreme Court in 1963. Brady establishes a requirement that the Government turn over any evidence it has that is favorable to the defense. That case also set up the test for appellate courts to use to decide whether or not a failure to disclose some evidence … Read more
Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces Affirms Lower Court’s Reversal of Guilty Finding
The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces [CAAF] recently issued its opinion in United States v. Patterson. SSgt Patterson had been convicted at court-martial of a number of offenses. One of the guilty findings was for an offense against a child. The specification was drafted to allege that the conduct occurred between October 1, … Read more
Army Appellate Court Sets Conviction Aside for Second Time
PFC Jarlego was first convicted of two specifications of rape of a child and one specification of sexual abuse of a child in 2021. At trial, the alleged victim did not testify and the Government established her age through a birth verification record provided by the state in which she was born. On appeal in … Read more
Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces Decides Reservist Recall Question
The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) recently decided the case of United States v. Taylor. SSG Taylor was a member of the Air Force Reserve in December 2019 when he attended a drill weekend for his unit. This weekend consisted of two four-hour blocks of inactive duty training on Saturday and two … Read more
Court of Appeals Clarifies How to Apply Confinement Credit When a Court-Martial Conviction Was Previously Handled by Nonjudicial Punishment
Sometimes a command will impose nonjudicial punishment (also referred to as Captain’s Mast or Article 15) on a servicemember for an offense and then later decide to send that same offense to court-martial. This usually occurs when it turns out that the initial offense is part of a more serious offense or series of offenses. … Read more
Air Force Court Denies Victim’s Request to Exclude Evidence
Article 6b of the UCMJ provides alleged victims of crimes with certain rights. Those rights include the right to be notified of court proceedings in the case against the alleged offender, the right to be present at court proceedings, and the right to be informed of any plea agreements in the case. They also include … Read more
Army Appellate Court Affirms Trial Judge’s Dismissal of Charges Due to Government’s Discovery Violations
Earlier this month, the Army Court of Criminal Appeals issued its opinion in United States v. Delisfort. The case was before the Court on a Government appeal under Article 62, UCMJ. Article 62 allows the Government to file an appeal in a case before it is completed in order to challenge a military judge’s decision … Read more
Air Force Appellate Court Sets Aside Guilty Finding to Orders Violation Where Government Failed to Prove the Order Was in Effect at the Time of the Offense
Last month the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals issued its decision in United States v. Henderson. TSgt Henderson was a technical trainer for entry-level trainees from 2016-2020. TSgt Henderson made several comments to and about two female trainees within his 12-person class. He made sexualized comments about the two trainees in front of the … Read more