Tag: UCMJ

This is something that many civilians don’t understand that a military jury just needs a majority to convict someone. This makes the threshold of convictions easier:

A Germany-based military judge’s ruling that a unanimous guilty verdict was required to convict an Army officer facing sexual assault charges was rejected by the service’s top appeals court.

Lt. Col. Andrew Dial initially faced a court-martial in January, but proceedings were delayed after military judge Col. Charles Pritchard said that allowing a split verdict would violate Dial’s constitutional rights.

Prosecutors challenged that decision before the Army Court of Criminal Appeals, arguing that Pritchard’s ruling was based on faulty reasoning. 

In a June decision, the appeals court concurred, saying it was not persuaded by the argument that because military and civilian court procedures are generally similar, military defendants are “similarly situated” to civilian counterparts.

“Rather, we adhere to the well-established view that ‘the military is a specialized society separate from civilian society’ which has, by necessity, developed laws and traditions of its own during its long history,” the court said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Camp Casey soldiers have been getting hit hard by UCMJ for violating coronavirus restrictions:

At least six soldiers also have received nonjudicial punishment under Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice for going to bars off-base or otherwise violating restrictions on nonessential movement off-base, according to the Eighth Army.

Two privates assigned to the 210th Field Artillery Brigade at Camp Casey had to forfeit pay and received extra duty and a written reprimand for traveling to Camp Humphreys without authorization on March 28, violating their unit’s sign-out policy and possessing alcohol while underage.

Two privates first class with the 210 FAB were reduced in rank, forfeited pay and received written reprimands for drinking in a bar on March 14 in Dongducheon, the city that is home to Camp Casey, near the border with North Korea.

A specialist with the same brigade received the same punishment for drinking in a bar on March 20 in Dongducheon.

A sergeant first class with the 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade had to forfeit pay and received a written reprimand for visiting an off-post bar in Songtan, the area outside Osan Air Base, on March 31.

Abrams clamped down on civilians after a contractor who works at Eighth Army headquarters tested positive after he continued to go to restaurants in the local community despite restrictions on nonessential activities off base.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Meanwhile in Alaska:

An airman in Alaska was demoted and received a letter of reprimand for peeing in his squadron’s office coffee maker, among other violations of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice, according to documents from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

Formally charged as a violation of article 92, dereliction of duty, the unnamed airman “knew or should have known” to “refrain from urinating in the squadron coffee maker,” according to the redacted charge sheet provided by the base public affairs office. The incident occurred sometime between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31, 2019, but the document does not stipulate how the crime was discovered.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

I have ever seen anyone get court martialed and face a year in jail for incidents like this before:

If found guilty, the sentencing guidelines call for up to a year in jail and a bad conduct discharge. The charges against her stem from three incidents, which Kman described in his opening statement.
Pointing a 9mm pistol at another sergeant during preliminary marksmanship instruction at the range near Allied Joint Force Command Naples in November 2017 constituted dereliction of duty, he said.
“She said, ‘Stay still so I can find my sight picture,’” the prosecutor said. “The government doesn’t care if SFC Barboza thought she was being funny.”
Repeatedly calling a specialist fat in front of other soldiers was maltreatment, he said, and Barboza had committed disrespect of a noncommissioned officer when she touched the hair of an African-American staff sergeant and made a derogatory comment.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest example of a senior military officer having a mid-life crisis:

An Air Force officer who engaged in an unprofessional relationship with an airman 20 years his junior while commanding a small expeditionary base in Africa will be forced out of the service following a general court-martial last week.

A military judge ruled late Friday that Lt. Col. Denis Paquette should be dismissed from the service, the equivalent of a dishonorable discharge for enlisted personnel. The dismissal means that Paquette, a C-17 pilot and married father with more than 18 years in the Air Force, won’t be eligible for retirement benefits.

Paquette chose to have his case decided by a military judge. He pleaded guilty to fraternization; violating a lawful general order on one occasion by drinking more than two alcoholic drinks at a deployed location in less than 24 hours; and to impeding an investigation.  [Stars & Stripes]

I recommend reading the whole thing at the link because this guy was running a base in Tunisa like a frat house while hitting on an 18-year old airman.  I recommend to people having a midlife crisis to buy the sports car instead because ruining a military career over something like this is not worth it.