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CONTACT US! This morning we received a phone call with a question about Article 31, UCMJ rights. The more you know, the better you can make informed decisions. Generally, we take the view that it is almost never a good decision to make a statement without consulting with counsel. There are several reasons for that:1)...

On 15 March, the Army published the service-wide court-martial results for February 2017. Here is our analysis.We saw a couple of trends continue. Of the 40 trials, 27 were guilty pleas (67%). That statistic is relatively consistent from month to month. It seems that defense counsel are exercising good judgment (based on our limited information)....

CONTACT US! There is very little research into false allegations of sexual assault. It is a toxic subject area. In most cases, there is very little evidence to corroborate either side of the story. As defense lawyers, we are always trying to stay current on the literature though.I recently came across an article in the...

On November 19, 2005, a convoy of Marines came under attack from an improvised explosive device and small-arms fire. The Marines responded – as trained – to the threats. There were civilian casualties. Here is a link to the Vanity Fair story. The firm successfully represented one of the first Marines in the case to face murder charges....

Referral to a command directed mental health evaluation can be an extremely unsettling experience. In our experience, it’s not unusual for commands to abuse the command directed mental health process. In that regard, it’s important for you to know your rights. CONTACT US! What is the regulation for command directed mental health evaluations? Department of Defense...

The Army has published the January 2017 court-martial results. As always, here is our analysis. We count 51 court-martials. I count 35 guilty pleas (68%). I would say total plea bargains were trending slightly above average for January. We’re starting to see – over the last few months – more judge alone trials. I still think the...

Marine Special Operations Command Marines are back in the news. On 4 March 2007, Marine Corps Special Operations Command members came under attack during a deployment to Afghanistan. After engaging the threat, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Counsel later alleged that upwards of 19 civilians were killed and 50 were injured. The commander of the unit, Major Galvin, is...

Among the matters you should consider are: [appropriate selections may be made from the following list] The accused’s age. The accused’s good military character as evidenced by Defense Exhibit(s) _____ and the testimony of _______. The accused’s record in the service for good conduct. The prior honorable discharge(s) of the accused. The combat record of...

Attached is an NCIS Privacy Act Request form for those looking to obtain NCIS records pertaining to their case.NCIS requires proof of identity. We recommend including a copy of a drivers license. You can also provide a declaration establishing your identity and indicating “I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United...

The latest court-martial results reported for the Army are from November 2016.November is a busy month for the trial judiciary. There is historically a push to clear the docket before the holidays.Bottom line. I still think that the data supports electing a jury/panel in most cases.Seventy percent of the cases in November were guilty pleas. That...