In many circumstances, a court-martial case will be automatically reviewed by the appropriate service Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA). There is an Army CCA, Air Force CCA, Navy-Marine CCA and a Coast Guard CCA. Article 66 of the UCMJ dictates which court-martial cases will be automatically heard by the service courts of criminal appeals. Currently, […]
In 2014, in United States v. Katso, the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals (AFCCA) reversed an appellant’s convictions of aggravated sexual assault, burglary, and unlawful entry, for which the appellant was sentenced to confinement for ten years, total forfeitures, and a dishonorable discharge. The reversal was based on the AFCCA’s finding that a DNA […]
Today on November 28, 2017, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) is set to review this very issue in United States v. Jerkins. In this case, Army Major Jerkins was convicted of assault consummated by a battery upon a child after hitting his three-year-old step-son with a belt. Following his conviction, MAJ […]
On August 25, 2017, the Department of Defense announced clarifying guidance to the Military Discharge Review Boards and Boards for Correction of Military Records for Veterans who petition for either an upgrade or a correction to their discharges based on mental health conditions, such as PTSD and TBI, that existed at the time of discharge […]
Recently, in A.M. v. United States and Densford, the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals (NMCCA) reviewed a claim from an alleged sexual assault victim that she was excluded from parts of the preliminary Article 32 hearing in violation of Article 6b of the UCMJ. Under Article 6b(a)(3), the alleged victim of a UCMJ offense […]
Mr. Cassara represented an Army Sergeant accused at a court-martial of conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, and numerous other charges arising out of a shooting in Germany. His co-accused went to trial before him and was convicted of several charges and sentenced to two years confinement and a bad-conduct discharge. One of the main […]
I have been representing an Army Captain who came up hot on a urinalysis for THC. He swore he had no idea how it happened, and we did some digging. Turns out he had been to a music festival in Atlanta. When he got home there was a batch of cookies on the kitchen table […]
I just represented an E-7 at Fort Benning who was charged with numerous allegations of falsely wearing a Ranger Tab. The evidence against him was overwhelming. But we were able to mitigate his damage down to a two rank reduction. No confinement, no discharge. As he has an approved MEB (due to numerous jumps) he […]
The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) recently reversed an assault case in United States v. Bowen. Airman First Class (E-3) Bowen was convicted contrary to his pleas of not guilty, by a general court martial composed of officer members, of aggravated assault of his wife and also of assault of another airman. […]
In this blog series, I have discussed how servicemembers are protected by the two-tiered appellate system in the military (Part I). I also explained that there are a few unique appellate issues that may be argued by military appellants. In Part II of this series, I discussed the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel in […]