The United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals (ACCA) has recently reviewed Military Rule of Evidence (MRE) 513 and how it relates to petitions for extraordinary relief in the nature of a writ of mandamus. The review began after it was argued that MRE 513 did not provide military judges adequate instruction when determining if … Read more

The Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) has added a third committee to its number of federal advisory groups, the Defense Advisory Committee on Investigation, Prosecution, and Defense of Sexual Assault in the Armed Forces (DAC-IPAD). This new committee was created in an effort to respond to the number of sexual assault allegations from various members … Read more

In the average criminal defense case, one can expect that the defendant will be tried based only on evidence pertinent to the crime immediately in question. That is to say, for example, someone being tried for an alleged theft would not expect the prosecution to bring forth evidence of an entirely separate alleged theft crime … Read more

The Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals (NMCCA) has reaffirmed through a recent ruling that a military service member never truly retires from the Armed Forces. Through its comments on United States v. Dinger, the NMCCA holds that retirement is a status change, not a removal from military service. With this statement made and upheld, it … Read more

The United States Army has recently released a policy update to encourage the professionalization of online conduct and the telling of “the Army Story.” The update applies only to the Army and all of its branches – no other branches of the military, such as the Navy or Airforce, are affected – and effectively allows disciplinary, criminal, … Read more

In Cook v. United States, a panel of three judges representing the Air Force Criminal Court of Appeals (CCA) has chosen to permit a new trial based on the discovery of new evidence that could change everything. Master Sergeant Cook pleaded not guilty to sexual assault but was convicted all the same after trial by court-martial. He was penalized … Read more

The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) ruled to reaffirm the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) decision of United States v. Rosario. The case ended in a conviction and sentencing of a sexual harassment charge, despite that conviction being based on the same allegations that led to the acquittal of three counts … Read more

The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) decided the appeal motion for United States v. Nieto recently. The case regarded a military investigator’s search authority and whether or not it could be based entirely on an investigator’s experience, specifically an investigator’s experience with how people generally use their portable electronic devices. The CAAF ruled that … Read more

The Bergdahl desertion case is currently up-in-the-air after the former-Sergeant Bergdahl’s defense attorneys argued a fair trial was now impossible due to repeated statements from Donald Trump that labeled their client as a “traitor”. During a pretrial hearing in mid-February 2017, the defense showed a five-minute video compilation of all the times the now-POTUS defamed … Read more

United States v. Muwwakkil represents a particularly interesting military defense case, in that an entire piece of evidence was stricken from the record due to the government’s negligence, and yet the case was permitted to carry on as normal. The controversy of the case begins after an alleged rape victim provides an oral testimony to investigators. … Read more