Not necessarily. Sometimes when a servicemember pleads guilty to charges at a court-martial, they sign a pretrial agreement (PTA). In the PTA, they might agree to waive any motions that that they are allowed to waive prior to trial. The reason the government will sometimes place this agreement in a PTA is so that the … Read more
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If you or your loved one is dissatisfied by a decision at one of the service court of criminal appeals (CCA), there are more options. An appellant can request that the CCA reconsider their decision. Additionally, an appellant can petition the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) to review the decision of the … Read more
Recruiting Assistance Program (RAP) fraud within the National Guard has been in the news lately. Many servicemembers have recently been accused and indicted for RAP fraud. RAP fraud refers to an allegation that recruiters and recruiter assistants (RA) are committing wire fraud, identity theft and conspiracy to falsely get bonuses associated with obtaining recruits. The … Read more
Recently in the Marine case United States v. Stevens, the Navy-Marine Court of Criminal Appeals (N-MCCA) overturned a Marine Staff Sergeant’s conviction for larceny even though he pled guilty at his court-martial. In this case, Staff Sergeant Stevens worked as an instructor at the Logistics Operations School at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. His office space … Read more
If you are appealing your court-martial, chances are you will not have the same defense counsel representing you in your appellate case as you did during your court-martial. Therefore, your appellate defense counsel will have to read through the transcript from your court-martial to find out what appellate issues may be present in your case. … Read more
If court-martial charges have been preferred against you and you are guilty of one or more of the offenses on the charge sheet, you have many options. You may plead not guilty to all charges, you may plead guilty to some charges or you may plead guilty to all charges. Another option is to request … Read more
After a servicemember is convicted at a court-martial, it can sometimes feel like he or she has to wait forever for it to become final. It does take a while following the adjournment of the court-martial for final action to be taken on the court-martial. This is because many things occur after the court-martial that … Read more
Most people in the military or retired from the military have heard of the Board for Correction of Military Records (BCMRs). There are three of them, representing the Army, Navy and Air Force. What people may not know is what the members of these boards can do. The members of the BCMRs have extensive authority. … Read more
Some of you may recall that in July 2015, I blogged about the Navy-Marine Court of Criminal Appeals (NMCCA) overturning an appellant’s convictions for sexual assault and abusive sexual contact on 14 July 2015, in United States v. Pease due to factually insufficiency. On that same day, the NMCCA overturned a conviction for rape and … Read more
It depends. If you or your loved one is convicted at a court-martial and is given a sentence that either involves death or 1 year of confinement or longer, the case will be referred to the appropriate Court of Criminal Appeals. Additionally, the case will be referred to the Court of Criminal Appeals if the … Read more