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
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
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
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
The Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals recently decided the case of United States v. Harris. IT2 Harris was at a Fourth of July pool party with friends, many of whom were fellow Sailors. One of these other guests was a female IT1 with whom he had worked on a previous deployment. IT2 Harris and … Read more
Specialist Urieta was charged with one specification of making a false official statement and three specifications of sexual assault. At trial he was represented by his assigned military attorney as well as a civilian defense attorney. During selection of the panel members who would hear the case, one potential member, Sergeant First Class Bravo (not … Read more
The Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees the assistance of counsel to criminal defendants. Over the years, case law has developed regarding the level of competence required of defense counsel in order to meet the constitutionally-mandated assistance. The US Supreme Court case of Strickland v. Washington is the seminal case in this area. In … Read more
The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces expanded the scope of evidence of uncharged acts the Government may introduce at court-martial with its latest decision. In United States v. Greene-Watson, the Court affirmed SrA Greene-Watson’s conviction for communicating a threat to his wife. The charged offense occurred in September 2020 during an argument between … Read more
The Army Court of Criminal Appeals recently issued its opinion in the case of United States v. Lathrop. On September 26, 2023, SPC Lathrop pled guilty to three specifications of domestic violence at a special court-martial. Pursuant to his pretrial agreement, he was sentenced to ten months confinement and a bad-conduct discharge. Following his court-martial, … Read more
The Court of Appeals recently released its opinion in United States v. Shelby. Sergeant Shelby was initially charged with several offenses in January 2022. The most serious of these charges was one alleging abusive sexual contact, a violation of Article 120, UCMJ. Before those charges were tried at court-martial, the Military Judge found that the … Read more