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Yes, sometimes.  In the military there are three inchoate crimes which are “preparation crimes.”  In other words, these three crimes are designed to punish someone for taking active steps toward committing another crime. The three inchoate offenses in the military are attempt, conspiracy and solicitation.  It is a crime to attempt to commit a crime, … Read more

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Recently, the Article 32 investigation was conducted in the Naval Academy case where one female midshipman has accused three former Naval Academy football players of rape.  Apparently, the accuser was cross-examined for a long time during this hearing and was asked a lot of difficult questions.  Following this Article 32 hearing, she and her counsel … Read more

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In order to be convicted of possessing child pornography at a court-martial under Article 134 of the U.C.M.J., there has to be a determination that what you possess is actually child pornography.  In order to qualify as such, the picture in question must specifically meet the definition of child pornography.  Article 134 defines child pornography … Read more

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Everyone remembers the public coverage of the Marines urinating on the bodies in Afghanistan.  Well, even in a case like that where the “bad deed” appears in pictures and on video, the court-martial may not go in the Government’s favor.  This is especially true when there is unlawful command influence.  Unlawful command influence is when … Read more

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There is nothing more frightening that having someone tell you that you have been accused of a crime and then proceed to read you your rights.  Many servicemembers are stunned when they are in this position because often times they feel they have done nothing wrong and sometimes don’t know anything about the crime at … Read more

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On 29 August 2013, in U.S. v. Blair, the Army Court of Criminal Appeals (ACCA) ruled that it could not affirm a court-martial sentence on appeal if when compared to a “closely related” case, the sentences were “highly disparate” and the government cannot “demonstrate a rational basis exists to justify the difference in the relevant … Read more

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Well, everyone is talking about MAJ Hasan, so I suppose it is worthy of a blog.  MAJ Hasan, who was found guilty of killing 13 people (12 of whom were active duty Soldiers) and injuring over 30 people, was sentenced to death at his court-martial on August 28, 2013.  The interesting spin to this case … Read more

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In order to get your discharge upgraded, the burden of proof is with the applicant to demonstrate to the discharge review board that his or her discharge either lacked “propriety” or that it was based on “inequity.”  So, what do these terms mean?  Propriety refers to whether or not service regulations were followed in the discharge process.  … Read more

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A couple of weeks ago, I published a blog about the importance of presenting extenuation and mitigation evidence during the sentencing phase of a court-martial.  Recently, the Army Court of Criminal Appeals (ACCA), in U.S. v. Sickels sent out the same message.  ACCA set aside a life without parole sentence for SGT Sickels because ACCA … Read more

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PFC Manning’s unsworn statement delivered during the sentencing phase of his court-martial a few days ago has been all over the news.  During his statement he apologized for hurting people and for hurting the United States.  Some of you out there may be wondering what in the world an “unsworn statement” is.  This is a … Read more