The Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) recently deemed Colonel Wilson’s child sex abuse conviction to be factually insufficient, with a focus on inconsistent testimonies from the six-year-old child who alleged the abuse. Not only did the CCA question the validity of the conviction, but it did so with multi-thousand-word opinion piece rarely seen before in … Read more
Navy Officer Gallagher avoided nearly all charges in his war crimes case, which was complicated by prosecutorial tampering. Although the prosecution’s unusual attempts to spy on the defense was not directly cited in the ruling, it still carries implications for future similar cases. GALLAGHER CONCLUDES WITH ONLY ONE CONVICTION Edward Gallagher of the U.S. Navy … Read more
A 3-2 divided Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) recently decided the case of U.S. v. Gleason, finding that an accused cannot be charged with a novel specification under Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) if the same criminal violation can already be described in the Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM), … Read more
As a result of U.S. v. Tovarchavez’s conclusion, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) has held that any and all constitutional errors must be reviewed for harmlessness, even if those errors were once preserved by the plain error standard or forfeited without objection. If the error is not found to be “harmless beyond … Read more
Are there disparities based on race, ethnicity, and gender within the military criminal justice system? According to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), there might be. Within its extensive report – titled “DoD and the Coast Guard Need to Improve their Capabilities to Assess Racial and Gender Disparities” – that was handed … Read more
In an interesting development in the Army case of U.S. v. Lewis, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) has decided to affirm the Army Court of Criminal Appeal’s (CCA) partial reversal of a lower court’s suppression ruling. Specifically, one out of three suppressed statements from the defendant has lost the suppression ruling’s protection … Read more
It is no secret that the situation at any border center in America right now is tense. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are accused daily of mishandling the influx of undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers. On the other hand, many politicians are feeling the pressure for not doing … Read more
There are so many things to talk about regarding alcohol. Quite a few of my cases root issues stem directly from too much alcohol. Sleeping behind the steering wheel after you have had too much to drink is a terrible idea. You might think that you are doing the right thing, getting in your car, … Read more
The military criminal defense case of Navy SEAL and Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher has been complicated from the start. He stands accused of multiple charges surrounding the death of an Islamic State prisoner in 2017, including charges of premeditated murder, aggravated assault, wrongful use of controlled substances, and more. The case, however, got even cloudier recently when Gallagher’s … Read more
The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) recently decided upon the Air Force case of U.S. v. Meakin, in which the defendant was convicted of “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman” — as described in UCMJ Article 133 — carried out through online interactions. He had been sentenced to extensive confinement, total forfeitures, … Read more
