The nature of military justice.

"RJJJ" wrote in message
...
"ArtKramr" wrote in message
...
From: "Kevin Brooks"
Many courts martials result
in the defendant being exhonerated (in 1997, the US Army had 40
acquittals
out of 741 general courts martials, and 46 acquittals out of 315
special
courts martials, for a convi

40 equitals out of 741 is hardly "many". And as anyone with extensive
experience in military service knows, once a board of inquiry
recommends
a
court marshal, the chance of equital is very small as your figures
prove.
And
once the military discovers you intend to get civilian council, you
might
find
youreself quietly threatened to just forget that idea.. Or else.


The equital rate of courts martial compared to civillian felony equital
rates is
extremely unrealistic. The closest civillian equivalent to the Article 15
process
is plea bargaining. So you could almost view an Article 15, signed by the
accused as either a) a 'guilty as charged' plea, or b) a plea bargain in
an
effort to avoid courts martial. In this light, one could make an argument
that
the courts martial conviction rate is actually pretty low.

Those conviction rates I quoted did not include Art 15 results.


I've known several people that have used civilian council. The only 'ill'
effect any one of them reported was the general idea that he had hired the
wrong civilian lawyer. The one he got wasn't very well versed in courts
martial procedures.

That is the double-edged sword part of the equation. Though the defendant
can retain his military counsel as well to assist, IIRC.


Finally, regarding the command influence factor; the inspector general
system was specifically designed to defeat 'direct' command influence on
actual judicial proceedings. Yep, there are always flaws (as in any
system,
military or civilian) but in general, attorneys trained as officers do
their
level best in defense of their 'clients.' Further down this thread is
first
hand
proof; the poster, while being blindsided by a witness that was either
purjuring
himself, or had lied in pre-trial questioning, still had an attorney that
was as
flabergasted by the act as he was.

One of the most famous cases I can recall reading about was the old "Green
Beret Case" in Vietnam, where the 5th SFG commander and a couple of other SF
personnel were accused of crimes related to the disappearance (execution) of
a double agent (the gent weas reportedly working for COSVN while also
reporting to the US folks). They ended up bringing in civilian council, and
despite the rather obvious wishes of the then MACV CG to hang these guys,
they were subsequently acquitted (another nail in Art's, "If the General
wants them convicted, they will be convicted" crap).

Brooks


I feel safe within the UCMJ and how it's handled. Art, I honor your prior
service and the sacrifices you have made for our country, but you may just
be a little out of touch with the current military situation in this
topic.