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The Court of Appeals for Armed Forces (CAAF) has agreed to review an Army appellate case in which I am serving as the appellant’s counsel, U.S. v. Macdonald.  In April 2008, my client, Private First Class (PFC) Macdonald was prescribed Varenicline (popularly known as Chantix), to help him stop smoking.  Around the same time that … Read more

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This past week on February 24, 2014, the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals (AFCCA) in United States v. Seton upheld a military judge’s decision to dismiss a case with prejudice when the government lost a piece of key evidence.  The key evidence in the case was a video surveillance tape that taped events occurring … Read more

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Cell phones contain a huge amount of data.  Think about what you have on your own cell phone, including but not limited to, pictures, texts, telephone logs, e-mails, links to your bank accounts, etc.  Is this information protected from an illegal search under the 4th amendment?  Yes.  The law is clear that we all have … Read more

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If you are looking to correct something in your military records, you may be thinking of applying or maybe you already have applied to your service Board for Correction of Military Records.  There are three of them, representing the Army, Navy and Air Force.  I have an enormous amount of experience assisting servicemembers, retirees and … Read more

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Under Article 2(a) of the U.C.M.J., a reservist can only be subject to a court-martial if the government shows that he or she was serving on inactive duty training or was otherwise serving on active duty during the time of the offense. At his court-martial, Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Morita was charged with forging hundreds of documents … Read more

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One of the most common complaints I hear from my clients is that they feel like they have been mistreated by their command.  Many of these clients will then say, “I just wish there was something I could do about it.”  Well, maybe there is something that can be done.  You may be able to … Read more

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My strong opinion is that you SHOULD NOT speak to the media about your court-martial or other military case.  Could it get you some attention if you do?  Sure, but it is usually not positive attention.  One of the reasons I advise against it is because like when you speak to an investigator, your words … Read more

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Pleading guilty at a court-martial is a different than when a civilian pleads guilty at his civilian criminal trial.  In a court-martial involving a guilty plea, the military judge conducts what is called a “providence inquiry.”  During this inquiry the military judge has a lengthy discussion with the accused servicemember on the record about the … Read more

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Imagine you have attended a barracks party, you drank underage and you ended up having what you believed to be consensual sex with a female.  The next day, you report to your supervisor as ordered and he begins drilling you with questions about what happened at the party and what you did.  You have to … Read more

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Next Monday, in U.S. v. Elespuru, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) will hear an argument about whether two of an Airman’s charges for which he was found guilty in his court-martial are multiplicious.  The two charges are “abusive sexual contact” and “wrongful sexual contact” under the 2006 version of Article 120.  … Read more