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In July 2015, in United States v. Clark, the Navy-Marine Court of Criminal Appeals (N-MCCA) reversed an appellant’s conviction for rape and forcible sodomy based on factual insufficiency.  In this case, a female accused Airman (AN) Clark of having vaginal and oral sexual intercourse with her, while she was unable to consent due to intoxication.  … Read more

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Your appellate lawyer, whether it be an active duty JAG or a civilian attorney, is responsible for preparing a “brief” or written pleading, to present to the Court of Criminal Appeals. This is done by carefully reading the record of trial, or transcript, and identifying legal issues that may result in relief for the client. … Read more

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Recently, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) reversed a conviction for sexual assault in United States v. Rogers , a Coast Guard case.  The case was reversed because CAAF found that one of the panel members showed bias and the military judge failed to correct it.  In Rogers, appellant had been charged … Read more

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First Lieutenant (1LT) Evans was convicted at a court-martial of an Article 121 larceny violation as well as two Article 107 false official statement charges.  The false official statement convictions involved two statements 1LT Evans made during an investigation into whether or not he wore an unauthorized combat patch. One statement was the submission of a dental x-ray … Read more

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In most cases, as part of one’s guilty plea at a court-martial, the accused is asked to sign a pretrial agreement.  There are several agreements made in the pretrial agreement.  For example, sometimes an accused can waive his right to an Article 32 preliminary hearing or the opportunity to have certain witnesses attend his court-martial … Read more

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Article 34 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) requires the convening authority of a general court-martial to get pretrial advice from the staff judge advocate (SJA).  More specifically, Article 34(a)(2) states the SJA must advise as to whether each specification referred to a general court-martial is “warranted by the evidence indicated in the … Read more

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You were present at your own court-martial and therefore you may want to raise an issue on appeal that is different from those being raised by your appellate defense counsel.  You will have this right on appeal.  These issues you raise independently may be considered by the appellate courts in addition to those issues raised … Read more

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In United States v. Gomez, a Coast Guard case, appellant argued before the Coast Guard Court of Criminal Appeals (CGCCA) that the testimony of two of the alleged female victims in his case provided improper sentencing evidence.  At his court-martial, Gomez was charged with several sexual harassment charges and sexual assault charges involving several different … Read more

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The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) is going to hear argument regarding a search that occurred of a vehicle in Air Force case United States v. Harrell.  In this case, an Air Force First Lieutenant, who was pending a court-martial for wrongful use of marijuana, was stopped by a civilian police officer … Read more