In 1983, a woman was attacked near the Quantico Marine Base in Virginia. The victim’s description of her assailant prompted the military officers to convict and court-martial Corporal Lindsey Scott, the only black MP in the Quantico Criminal Investigation Division, despite his pleas of innocence. He was initially convicted and sentenced to 30 years in...

Under the US Constitution, an accused enjoys the right to a speedy trial. US v. Danylo, 73 M.J. 183 (C.A.A.F. 2013). A service members 6th Amendment right to a speedy trial triggers upon the preferral of charges or pretrial restraint. That right is also codified in Article 10, UCMJ. Military courts look at 4 issues...

Under R.C.M. 906 (b)(8), the defense may move the court for relief from pretrial confinement in violation of R.C.M. 305.The defense, as the moving party, has the burden of showing by a preponderance of the evidence that: (1) the 7-day reviewing officer’s decision was an abuse of discretion; or (2) information not presented to the...

Expert witnesses can be a critical part of any court-martial. Service members have a right to confidential experts. See United States v. Turner, 28 M.J. 487, 489 (C.M.A. 1989); United States v. King, 32 M.J. 709 (A.C.M.R. 1991). Under R.C.M. 701 (f), their confidential assistance is subject to the attorney-client privilege and the work product privilege.As a matter of military...

Over the past few we’ve seen an uptick in search terms for our law firm related to false allegations of sexual assault. I’ve written about this topic in the past. With the recent confirmation hearings of Justice Kavanaugh, this is a good time to revisit the topic.I’m writing about this topic from the perspective of a...

On 19 June 2018, in US v. Dinger, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces set aside some previous precedent suggesting that retired members could not receive a punitive discharge at a court-martial.10 U.S.C § 6332 states that when a member in the Naval Service is placed in a retired status, that “transfer is conclusive...

On 22 June 2018, the United States Supreme Court issued their ruling in the Carpenter case.The case could have some application for military practitioners. The use of digital forensic evidence is becoming increasingly common. Law enforcement often seeks to examine cell phone data, computer hard drives, phone company records, and now GPS data. We’ve certainly...

Every now and again a truly impactful law review article is published that lends data-driven insights into the most difficult decisions that we make as defense attorneys. That is the case with the new law review article titled “The Silence Penalty”.By far, the toughest decision is whether or not the client will testify. In military...

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...

In Part I of this blog series, I posted some data from the Department of Justice on false allegations. In Part II, I’ll discuss the literature on detecting lies. In Part III, we talk about nonverbal deception and facial expressions. In Part IV, I’ll talk about false confessions. I’ve spent the better part of the past decade studying...