Court Martial Appeals Blog

This is a blog focusing on Court Martial Appeals Issues.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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