Court of Appeals

Many bases and posts throughout the United States do not have their own confinement facilities. The commanders of these installations often enter into Memorandums of Agreement (MOA) with local civilian jails to hold pretrial detainees, servicemembers serving a short sentence, or servicemembers awaiting transfer to a military confinement facility. The conditions at these local jails … Read more

In 2017 the Navy court-martialed retired Chief Petty Officer Begani for offenses that occurred after he retired from active duty. Chief Begani was convicted and appealed his conviction, arguing that the military should not have jurisdiction to try retired servicemembers for offenses that are committed while they are retired. Initially, a three-judge panel of the … Read more

The firm of William E. Cassara successfully represented an Army Officer before the Department of Defense Consolidated Adjudications Facility resulting in having his clearance restored.  Among the allegations the Officer faced was that he had  mishandled protected information and had misused information technology systems by exceeding his authorized access on classified systems. Part of his … Read more

We recently successfully petitioned the Board for Correction of Navy Records on behalf of an enlisted Marine to upgrade an Other than Honorable discharge to General, Under Honorable Conditions.  The Marine had undiagnosed PTSD that contributed to his marijuana use.  The BCNR agreed that the PTSD was a mitigating factor in the misconduct, and voted … Read more

Article 15

The Army Court of Criminal Appeals (ACCA) recently decided the case of United States v. Henry. The case concerns the Government’s appeal of a military judge’s decision not to allow certain statements made by the alleged victim and her son at trial. Hearsay Rules of evidence generally do not allow parties to introduce hearsay statements … Read more