We seem to be approaching a very unsatisfying outcome to the three year-old saga that followed the tragic and completely unnecessary shooting of John Geer, an unarmed resident of my own community of Springfield, Virginia. In August, 2013, Mr. Geer’s domestic partner informed him that she would be leaving him after over 20 years together. Mr. Geer became upset and began throwing her property out into the yard of their Springfield rowhouse. She called the police. Upon their arrival the police held Mr. Geer at gunpoint for 40 minutes while he stood, hands up, in the doorway of this own home. Then, inexplicably, Officer Adam Torres of the Fairfax County Police Department fired is weapon, striking Mr. Geer in the chest. The police then infinitely compounded the tragedy by leaving Mr. Geer lying wounded in is doorway for an hour while he bled to death. According to the Washington Post, Geer’s lifeless body lay sprawled on the ground where fell five and a half hours after he was shot. Fairfax County then proceeded to add hideous insult to this fatal injury by refusing, for 17 months, to release any significant information on the shooting to Mr. Geer’s family. Only a wrongful death lawsuit finally pried anything out of the County. Ultimately the County bowed to public pressure by firing Torres from the Fairfax County Police Department almost two years after the killing and empanelling a grand jury, which indicted Torres for second degree murder. A few days ago, Torres pleaded guilty to felony involuntary manslaughter, with the Commonwealth agreeing to a paltry sentence of 12 months in jail, with credit for 8 months time served.

About three weeks ago the Supreme Court handed down a remarkable decision on the Second Amendment, in which the high court vacated a ruling by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts upholding that State’s ban on stun guns. The Massachusetts Court had held that stun guns are not protected by the 2nd Amendment first, because stun guns were not in common use at the time of the 2nd Amendment’s enactment; second, because it deemed stun guns to be “dangerous and unusual weapons” prohibited at common law; and third, because stun guns “are not readily adaptable to use in the military.” The Supreme Court rejected each of these findings in turn as being in conflict with its holdings in District of Columbia v. Heller, as applied to the States by MacDonald v. Chicago. This much is unsurprising. What is surprising, however, is that in rejecting the Massachusetts Court ruling, the Supreme Court did so by a vote of 8 – 0: meaning that the conservative wing of the court, that supported Heller and MacDonald, and also the liberal wing that was in opposition, voted to overturn the lower court’s ruling.

Heartening as such a ruling may be to those of us interested in the Second Amendment, the practical lesson that this case offers to the average person about how to protect their rights actually lies in a different direction altogether. Buried deep in Justice Alito’s concurring opinion is following description of the events leading up to the arrest of Ms. Caetano, the Petitioner:

“In September 2011, police officers responded to a reported shoplifting at an Ashland, Massachusetts supermarket. The store’s manager had detained a suspect, but he identified Caetano … as [a] potential accomplice[]. Police approached [her] and obtained Caetano’s consent to search her purse. They found no evidence of shoplifting, but saw Caetano’s stun gun” (emphasis added).

Justice Alito explains elsewhere in his opinion just why Ms. Caetano had that stun gun: as protection against an abusive ex-boyfriend who “towered over her by nearly a foot and outweighed her by close to 100 pounds.” Thus, by agreeing to allow the police to search her purse for non-existent evidence of shoplifting, Ms. Caetano became a felon for possessing a non-deadly weapon for the sole purpose of fending off a clear, present and imminent threat of death or bodily harm at the hands of a former boyfriend. It remains to be seen how Ms. Caetano’s case will be resolved. The Supreme Court vacated the judgment and sent it back for further proceedings to Massachusetts, where that State will likely work hard to find some rationale to uphold their stun-gun ban that can withstand Second Amendment scrutiny, leaving Ms. Caetano a felon if they succeed (and, ironically, rendering her ineligible to possess a weapon to defend herself with that is legal – a firearm).

Thus, the first barricade in the defense of Ms. Caetano’s rights was not the 2nd Amendment, but rather, the 4th.

The 4th Amendment provides that “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Had Ms. Caetano refused consent to allow the police to search her purse, and had they insisted upon searching it anyway, she could later have argued that the police did not have probable cause to conduct the search and that have the stun gun should be inadmissible at trial. If successful, this argument would have left the Commonwealth with no evidence and no case. She would have walked, with no loss beyond the loss of the stun gun itself and her attorney’s fees. Unfortunately, Ms. Caetano surrendered this argument the moment she voluntarily agreed to allow the police to search her purse, depriving her attorney of his or her best line of defense and forcing him to rely upon the Second Amendment argument, the outcome of which is much less certain.

The lesson for all of us is clear: Under the 4th Amendment, the Police may not search your or your property without probable cause. If they ask for your permission to conduct a search, you have a right to say no – EXERCISE THAT RIGHT. The police may feel that they have sufficiently strong reason to go ahead and search anyway. You should not resist or obstruct them if they do – but you need to make clear that they do not have your permission or consent to do so. That way, you preserve your right to challenge their search later.

Are you facing criminal charges in Virginia stemming from evidence the police seized after searching you or your belongings without your consent? If you did consent to the search, did the police behave in a way that led you to believe that you were under arrest, that you were not free to go, or that you were obligated to allow the police to search your property? If so, I want to help you. Contact me immediately for a consultation regarding a potential violation of your Fourth Amendment rights today.

Copyright 2014 by Dennis P. Chapman

Army Officers are evaluated and selected for promotion based upon their records as reflected in their Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) – the performance and administrative portions of their Interactive Personnel Records Management System (iPERMS) file. For Active Component and Army Reserve Officers, the promotion process begins with an Army promotion board (a DA Board) conducted by Human Resources Command (HRC), at Fort Knox, Kentucky. For Army National Guard Officers, the promotion process begins either with a DA Board, or with a Federal Recognition Board conducted by their State. In addition to the performance section in iPERMS, there is a restricted file. This file contains 2nd lieutenant OERs, masked by Army policy; disciplinary records where the adjudicatory authority has decided to file them there rather than in the Performance File; and other sensitive matters. In past years, this restricted file was not used for promotion purposes but was used to screen officers for suitability for command and other sensitive assignments.

Our law firm has client meeting locations in Virginia & Maryland. If you need help with a military investigation in Virginia or Maryland, do not hesitate to call us. Our attorneys will do their best to help you get the best result possible.

Sadly, the days of such a restrained and narrowly tailored suitability screening process are long gone. In recent years, the Army has increasingly behaved like an institution under siege. Facing relentless pressure from grandstanding politicians looking to make hay over pet issues at the Army’s expense, and unremitting criticism from a hostile media, the leadership of the Army is running scared. What was once a reasonable and prudent process of reviewing the moral qualifications of prospective commanders, has rapidly degenerated into something approaching a witch hunt. Where once the Army reviewed the contents an officer’s restricted file as a final vetting before command appointments, it now relentlessly searches out unfavorable information about officers from every conceivable source, from Inspector General (IG) records to records of criminal investigations. And the Army hasn’t stopped at plumbing the depths of every available database for dirt on its officers: It is delaying and blocking officer promotions on increasingly minor grounds.

Recently, the Army’s suitability screening process reached a new low: on several occasions, the Army has demanded that the Army National Guard actually revoke the promotion orders of officers already promoted. In one recent and egregious case, the Army demanded that the Army National Guard revoke the promotion of an officer from 2nd Lieutenant to 1st Lieutenant over a minor and ancient criminal matter that the officer had reported, and received a waiver for, when he enlisted; and again when he was commissioned as an officer. The Army now demands that his State justify, separately, why the officer should be promoted.

Our law firm has client meeting locations in Virginia & Maryland. If you need help with a military investigation in Virginia or Maryland, do not hesitate to call us. Our attorneys will do their best to help you get the best result possible.

So – what does this mean for you? If you are an Army officer awaiting promotion now, or hoping to be promoted in the future, it means a great deal. The Army’s relentless, unforgiving, zero-tolerance mentality makes it vital that every officer defend his or her honor and reputation against any and all blemish.

Proactive Steps: In the current climate, any allegation of impropriety, however, minor, can come back to haunt you in future. It is absolutely vital that you mount a vigorous defense at the very earliest stages of any investigation, inquiry, or administrative proceeding. If you don’t you may find yourself haunted over and over by it over the course of your career.

Remedial Steps: If you are an Army National Guard Officer and adverse information about you already exists, in your Performance or Restricted files, in the records of the Inspector General (IG) or Criminal Investigation Command (CID), or anywhere else, you can expect to face further scrutiny upon being recommended for promotion, even after you have been recommended for Federal Recognition or selected by a Mandatory DA Board. The First step in the process will review by a General Officer Review Board (GORB), consisting of General Officers from HQDA G1, Department of the Army IG, and the Office of the Judge Advocate General (OTJAG). The GORB may recommend promotion, or further review. If the GORB feels that further review is warranted, your file will be referred to a Promotion Review Board (PRB). A PRB is, essentially, a full-blown promotion board that will reconsider your file anew, together with the adverse information at issue. If a PRB is recommended, you will be given 45 days to submit a rebuttal, which will be considered along with the entirety of your record and the adverse information at issue. The PRB will then make a recommendation to the Secretary of the Army as to whether you should be promoted or not.

If you face referral to a PRB, it is absolutely vital that you vigorously contest the allegations against you. Given the increasingly vindictive zero-tolerance mentality that more and more pervades the Army, you cannot rely on the PRB to reach a fair and just conclusion about your character and qualifications on its own. You need an advocate to make the case clearly and plainly for you.

The attorneys of SRIS Law Group, PC, are as dedicated to fighting for your career as you have been to fighting for our liberty. The Constitution that you have sworn to uphold guarantees to you the right to due process before being denied promotion. Let us help you make the most of your rights – let us defend your honor, your reputation, and everything you have spent a lifetime working for.

Our law firm has client meeting locations in Virginia & Maryland. If you need help with a military investigation in Virginia or Maryland, do not hesitate to call us. Our attorneys will do their best to help you get the best result possible.

Few things matter more to a Soldier than his or her honor and professional reputation. An investigation into allegations of wrongdoing – whether it is a 15-6 investigation conducted by the command, an inquiry into an Inspector General (IG) complaint, or a criminal investigation – is a direct threat to your honor and your professional reputation as a leader. As such, it may be the most frightening test of your career – in some ways, maybe even more frightening than facing the enemy on the field of battle.

A Soldier under investigation faces a torturous dilemma: on the one hand, to sit passively and allow the investigation to run its course places in the initiative in the hands of your accuser, whose allegations then shape the course of the inquiry.  For this reason, your first impulse may be to try and set the record straight by cooperating with the investigation. But this very understandable impulse carries its own very real peril: by cooperating with the investigation, whether by giving a statement or otherwise, you risk placing into the hands of the investigator the very information that will be used to reach a finding against you.

Our law firm has client meeting locations in Virginia & Maryland.  If you need help with a military investigation in Virginia or Maryland, do not hesitate to call us.  Our attorneys will do their best to help you get the best result possible.

So what is a Soldier under investigation to do?  Seek legal counsel, and let your attorney do the talking for you. A good attorney can help you decide whether giving a statement is advisable or not, and if so, can help you craft it so that you help your case rather than making things worse.  Your attorney can expose and exploit procedural errors in the investigation and weaknesses in the evidence. Your attorney can assist you in discovering exculpatory evidence and can present it in the most persuasive and effective way. Finally, your attorney can make statements to the investigator that cannot be attributed to you directly.

The attorneys of SRIS Law Group, PC, appreciate everything you have done to protect this Nation and promote the cause of Liberty.  You’ve defended us – let us defend you. If you are facing military investigation of any kind, let us be your voice and your advocate.  Call us for a consultation today.

Our law firm has client meeting locations in Virginia & Maryland.  If you need help with a military investigation in Virginia or Maryland, do not hesitate to call us.  Our attorneys will do their best to help you get the best result possible.

These are difficult times to be a Military leader.  The Zero-Defects mentality has returned; the Armed Services suffer under a withering barrage of charges leveled by crusading politicians making hay at the Military’s expense over intractable problems like rape and sexual assault; domestic violence; fraud, waste, and abuse; suicide; and whatever other issue has grabbed the headlines. Budget cuts and force structure reductions create pressure on the services to reduce manpower. In this environment, complaints and allegations are rife; investigations proliferate; and honorable men and women find their careers and reputations under attack. In the prevailing culture, every officer and NCO can expect to be the target or subject of an investigation at some point, whether it be a criminal investigation into allegations of violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), a 15-6 or other administrative command investigation, or an investigation by the Inspector General (IG).  No matter what kind of investigation it is, the investigation, and your response to it, can have a ruinous effect on your life and career if you don’t handle it right – so what do you do?  The following are some of the things you should do immediately.

Do:

Retain Counsel and Remain Silent Until You Do. When you find out you are under investigation, your first impulse may be to talk to the investigator or your chain of command and sort it out all out. DON’T DO IT until you have consulted with counsel. Anything you say can be used against you. You need to carefully consider whether to speak to the investigator, and if so, what to say.

Retain Counsel and Take the Initiative. Government-appointed military defense counsel have very few resources at their disposal and will usually advise their clients to await the outcome of the investigation and then try to rebut findings.  This can be disastrous: First, it forfeits any opportunity to shape the outcome of the investigation in a favorable way; second, it squanders valuable time that could have been employed crafting an effective rebuttal before the investigation is complete; third, it cedes the initiative and control to the investigator.

Retain Your Own Investigator: If you are facing criminal charges or even a serious command or IG investigation, you and your Attorney should consider retaining your own investigator to develop exculpatory evidence; to gather evidence that your counsel can use to discredit or impeach the Government’s evidence; and, potentially, to serve as a friendly witness at any Court Martial or administrative hearing.

Consider Retaining a Polygraph Examiner: While not generally admissible in civil courts, a favorable polygraph examination can strongly influence the final outcome of any military investigation – and if the Polygraph Examiner was retained by your attorney, everything you tell, as well as the results of the test itself, are protected by attorney – client privilege.

Vigorously Rebut the Investigator’s Findings: Many military investigations are conducted by untrained personnel without any investigatory experience, and the result is often a poorly conducted investigation and poorly reasoned and poorly supported findings and recommendations.  An effective rebuttal can often lay these shortcomings bare and discredit the investigation.

Our law firm has client meeting locations in Virginia and Maryland.  If you are under military investigation in Virginia or Maryland, do not hesitate to contact the SRIS Law Group, P.C.  Our attorneys who assist clients with military investigations will do their best to help you.

Do NOT:

Don’t Apologize or Accept Responsibility Where You are Not at Fault: Military personnel under investigation are often betrayed by their own integrity and character. As Service Members, we are taught not to make excuses, and to accept responsibility not only for our own actions but for those our organization as well. In responding to charges or allegations, many Service Members will offer apologies or accept some degree of blame where none is warranted, only to have their statement used against them. Do not accept any responsibility or blame that you don’t deserve, and even if you think you do deserve it, don’t say anything without the advice of your Attorney.  Even if you think you are at fault, be quiet, till you hire your own attorney.  Let your lawyer do the talking for you.

Don’t Assume the Investigator is Unbiased:  Investigators often reach conclusions long before they have completed their investigations. By the time they interview you, they may merely be looking for evidence to corroborate the conclusions they have already reached.

Don’t Wait Passively for the Outcome: The investigator and your chain of command will rapidly become psychologically and emotionally invested in the investigator’s findings. They longer it takes you to offer an effective rebuttal, the more mentally entrenched the other side will be. It is critical that you be prepared to rebut the findings immediately, and this requires aggressive preparation before the investigation is complete.

Don’t Take a Government Polygraph Without Consulting Your Attorney: While having your Attorney retain your own Polygraph Examiner can produce invaluable results, consenting to a Government Polygraph can be disastrous for multiple reasons. The test results and everything you tell the Examiner will be given to the Government. If the Polygraph Examiner finds you to have been deceptive, the investigator will likely be irretrievably invested in his belief in your guilt. Also, a Polygraph Examination includes an extensive pre-test interview where the examiner may ask you compromising questions – and if you answer them, the Government may be able to use your answers against you somehow.  If the Government asks you to take a Polygraph Examination, you must discuss this with your Attorney and submit to it only after careful consideration. Even when a Polygraph Examination might be helpful, it is often a better choice is to retain your own Polygraph Examiner and provide the results of that exam to the Government.

Conclusion:  Are you under military investigation in Virginia or Maryland? If so, contact the SRIS Law Group, PC, for a free consultation immediately.  We are as committed to defending your rights and vindicating your honor as you are to defending our great Republic.  Call us today.

Our law firm has client meeting locations in Virginia and Maryland.  If you are under military investigation in Virginia or Maryland, do not hesitate to contact the SRIS Law Group, P.C.  Our attorneys who assist clients with military investigations will do their best to help you.

I once represented a U.S. Navy officer in an expungement petition on a domestic violence charge. I observed to him that he was very lucky his former spouse took her unfounded accusation to the local police rather than to his chain of command.  He bristled at this, certain that his superiors would never sacrifice a valuable and qualified officer like himself over false allegations by a disgruntled spouse. I admire this officer’s faith in the Naval service. Having devoted nearly 25 years of my life to the United States Army, I appreciate his faith in the Service.  But I also know that his faith and loyalty is not reciprocated.  The military services cherish their public image and reputation above nearly anything else – and certainly more than justice for an individual Service Member.

Justice to You May not be “Good” for the Service

The sad fact is that given a choice between doing justice for a Soldier or protecting its own reputation, the Military will often sacrifice the Soldier in a second flat.  This is profoundly important for any Service Member accused of a crime.  The Military Services are facing intense political, media, and public pressure to eradicate sexual assault, sexual harassment, bias crimes, and similar offenses.  Whether these problems really are the epidemics in the Military they are depicted as is open to doubt.  That the Military is under tremendous pressure over them, however, is not.

If you are Service Member accused of sexual assault; domestic violence; bias crimes based upon sexual orientation or other protected category; if you are under investigation for involvement in the ARNG G-RAP program; or if you are accused in any other hot-button issue, you face a war on two fronts: the Military authorities are not merely deciding whether probable cause exists that you committed the offense, and whether they can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. They are also deciding, at least implicitly, whether prosecuting you is necessary to protect the reputation of the Service. If the answer to that question is yes, they are likely to proceed against you in some form or fashion even if the case is questionable. If you face this situation, you need the assistance of aggressive defense counsel immediately.

The Tragedy of Captain Charles Butler McVay III

To understand how the military’s obsession with protecting its reputation can corrupt the Military Justice system, consider the tragedy of the U.S.S. Indianapolis. On July 30th, 1945, the U.S. Navy cruiser Indianapolis was struck by two torpedoes fired by the Japanese submarine I-58. The Indianapolissuffered catastrophic damage and sank almost immediately, leaving nearly 900 Sailors floating in the water.  After almost five harrowing days of shark attacks, dehydration, and untold misery in other forms, the 317 remaining survivors were finally discovered. Shockingly, they were found by chance by a passing Navy plane – the Indianapolis had never been reported missing.

Over 350 U.S. Navy vessels were lost in combat during the Second World War and not a single one of their captains was prosecuted for losing his vessel. Yet the Navy decided to make an example of Captain McVay, CO of the Indianapolis. He was charged, court martialed, and convicted for the loss of his ship. Though allowed to serve out his career and retire in 1949, McVay never recovered. Wracked with guilt and dogged by a shattered reputation, he shot himself in 1969.

The loss of the Indianapolis was the culmination of oversights, errors, and blunders having nothing to do with Captain McVay.  These mistakes were deeply embarrassing to the Navy, and in order to divert attention away the Navy’s own culpability, Fleet Admiral Ernest King, Chief of Naval Operations, convinced Navy Secretary James Forrestal to Court Martial Captain McVay. Only decades later was the truth finally brought to light, by the efforts of a 12 year old boy named Hunter Scott, that the Navy had charged McVay for political reasons to protect its own reputation, that the charges were based upon inaccurate or false information, and that information tending to exonerate McVay was not presented at trial.

Get Help

Human nature has not changed since World War II.  If you are being investigated for allegations of sexual assault, domestic violence, hate crimes, discrimination, bullying, G-RAP allegations, or any other hot-button issue, you need help now. Contact me at SRIS Law Group, PC, for a free consultation immediately.  We are as committed to defending your rights and vindicating your honor as you are to defending our great Republic.  Call us today.

Divorce is governed by State, not Federal, law, even in divorces involving military personnel.  Nonetheless, Federal laws and regulations can have a major impact on how a divorce action in state court proceeds and on the way that many matters are resolved. Matters such as the jurisdiction where the divorce is filed, child custody and visitation arrangements, calculation of spousal and child support, and the disposition of pension and similar benefits are all areas that may be substantially impacted where one or both spouses are current or former military members.

Our Virginia lawyers assist clients who need help with a Virginia military divorce.

The Service Members Civil Relief Act: Originally passed in 1940 as a reenactment of an earlier law and substantially amended in 1942, the SCRA was enacted to promote the National defense by enabling Service members “to devote their entire energy to the defense needs of the Nation”, and to protect Service members by providing “for the temporary suspension of judicial and administrative proceedings and transactions that may adversely affect the civil rights of servicemembers during their military service.”  Among other things, the SCRA restricts the power of state courts to enter final orders, default judgments, or similar actions against Service Members on active duty. These restrictions are not absolute and courts do sometimes make exceptions, especially where child custody and visitation is at issue. Nonetheless, the SCRA can be a boon to the Service Member in a divorce proceeding, where matters can be delayed if the Service Member can show harm related to his or her military service and the military member can receive extra time to respond to pleadings and orders or to make arrangements to appear at hearings.  Conversely, the law can seem very burdensome to the non-military spouse who just wants the proceedings resolved as expeditiously as possible.

Contact our Virginia lawyers if you need help with a Virginia military divorce

Division of Assets and Spousal or Child Support:  As with any other person involved in divorce proceedings, a Service Member can be obliged to provide spousal and child support from his or her military earnings. Likewise, a Service Member’s military retirement benefits are considered a defined-benefit retirement plan, and as such a court can apportion a share of those benefits to the non-military spouse in a divorce action. But military pay and retirement are governed by Federal laws and regulations which can be obscure, arcane, and unfamiliar to judges, attorneys, and the spouses themselves – even to the Service Member spouse.  Even a matter as simple as determining the Service Member’s total compensation can be less than straightforward: merely referencing the Service Member’s most recent tax return is not adequate, as military members receive substantial monthly compensation which is not taxable and is therefore not reflected on income tax returns.  The most common and significant of these is the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH). For example, a Colonel with over 20 years of service receives $9,847.80 per month base pay. The Colonel receives BAH on top of this. In the Washington, DC area, his or her BAH would be $3438.00 – more than 25% of his or her total compensation, invisible on his or her Federal tax returns, which can be determined only by referring to a military-issued document known as a Leave and Earnings Statement (LES).  Apportionment of a Service Member’s military pension is another area where special considerations come into play.  As in a civilian divorce, the court can award a share of the Service Member’s future retirement income to the non-military spouse. But collecting that share is subject to special rules: Even with a court order, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) will only automatically pay a portion of the retiree’s pension to the non-military spouse if the two were married for at least 10 years during the retiree’s military service (10 – 10 rule), and will divert not more than half of the retirement benefit to the former spouse.  If the 10 – 10 rule is not satisfied, or if the court awards more than half of the Service Member’s pension, the former spouse will have to collect those funds directly from the Service Member.

Call us today if you need a Virginia lawyer to help you with a Virginia military divorce.

These are just a few of the unique issues facing Service Members and their spouses when the divorce. If you are a current or former Service Member or military spouse facing divorce, you need the advice and assistance of a dedicated and competent attorney. We would be happy to provide you that support. We have client meeting locations in Virginia & Maryland.  Please to do not hesitate to contact us.

Superficially, the Courts Martial that try Service men and women accused of crimes look a lot like the trials where civilian defendants get their day in court. But while outwardly similar, Courts Martial differ from civilian trials in substantial and important ways. These differences are often to the disadvantage of the Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine accused of a crime. Because of this, it is all the more importantthat a Service Member accused of a crime mount an aggressive and effective defense from the outset of the investigation.

Probably the most important difference between a Court Martial and a civilian Court is the finder of fact. In civilian trials, guilt or innocence is determined by a jury – an impartial group of men and women, unconnected with the prosecution, the defense, or the court itself, chosen from among the community at large. In most States a jury consists of 12 jurors and must reach a unanimous decision as to whether the accused is guilty or innocent. In a Court Martial, the finder of fact is a Panel of Service Members of equal or greater rank than the accused. Federal Courts have held that a Court Martial Panel is not a jury, and for good reason. Unlike most civilian juries, General Court Martial Panels can be as small as five members. More significantly, unlike most juries, these Panels are not required to reach unanimous verdicts, but decide on a two-thirds majority vote (except for capital cases). These differences may have extremely important practical effects. Research has shown that smaller juries are more likely than larger ones to produce an erroneous verdict. Likewise, the same research has shown that juries allowed to reach verdicts by majority vote are also more prone to reaching erroneous verdicts, because a majority faction can, in effect, lock out the minority and reach a verdict without deliberating, or at least without deliberating adequately. These problems mean that an innocent defendant in a Court Martial may face a greater danger of being wrongly convicted than a defendant in a civilian court.

Another difference between Jury trials and trials by a military court is the composition of the panel. Juries are composed of private citizens called from the community at large, who may be expected to come from a wide variety of backgrounds. By contrast, a Court Martial Panel is drawn from a much more homogenous population – personnel of the same Armed Service as, and of equal or greater rank than, the defendant. Unlike a jury, where the members have no connection with the judiciary or the prosecution, the members of a Court Martial Panel are all military professionals likely to strongly identify with their Service and command – in other words, with the very authority that is prosecuting the defendant. This sense of identification may consciously or unconsciously prejudice them against the accused.

While a vigorous and active defense is vital for anyone accused of a crime, the peculiarities of Courts Martial make an effective defense all the more important for Service Members so accused.

Effective February 16th, 2016, I will be joining SRIS Law Group in an Of Counsel capacity. The attorneys at SRIS Law Group care deeply about the men and women who have sworn to uphold our Constitution and defend our Republic. If you are a Service Member facing Court Martial, let us defend you.

If you need help with an issue related to the UCMJ, do not hesitate to contact us. We understand that in a lot of instances, the UCMJ can have a significant impact on your life and how your career is a vital part of your life. Take any alleged violation of the UCMJ seriously and contact us for help. We have the support and help you need.

We have client meeting locations in Virginia & Maryland. If you need a military attorney in Virginia or Maryland, do not hesitate to contact us. Our firm will defend you not only in Virginia and Maryland, but throughout the US and the world if necessary.