Sunday Linky Dinkie

 What is it that I do all day at work?  Work on courts-martial in the Air Force! Want to see a list of all the courts-martial docketed currently in the Air Force?  Check out the docket list HERE.

It's interesting to see what rank, what crimes, and what locations are involved in various courts-martial.  If you can get into your local base to take a look at a case, I highly recommend it!

Latest Case

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present:

The Case of the Unstoppable Airman

My latest case was prosecuting a Reservist who was activated so he could learn how to be a great fuel cell maintainer.  Unfortunately, he learned that he could take advantage of the trust that's inherent in the Air Force and go AWOL multiple times, lie to people, violate lawful orders, use his Government credit card to rack up hundreds of dollars in charges, and steal his co-workers' credit and debit cards to do the same. 

This case was crazy because the man couldn't be stopped.  Like seriously.  He would go AWOL, get caught, apologize, and go AWOL a few days later.  His unit tried everything to stop him from telling him to stop all the way to putting him into confinement before trial. (Note to civilians: we don't just toss people in jail before their trials - we have to keep them with their unit unless they really really really need to go into confinement.)

At his court-martial, he pled guilty to everything, which is to say, 18 different crimes.  EIGHTEEN that he racked up in just two months.  Crazy.  So after pleading guilty to everything, I put one of the people whose card he stole on the stand to tell us what it was like to have his card stolen and his trust violated.  Then, defense counsel and I argued to the judge as to why various sentences were/were not appropriate.

After a short deliberation, the judge decided that the man (a 22-year old Airman Basic - the lowest rank in the AF) should get a reprimand, forfeit money, spend 5 more months in prison, and be discharged from the Air Force with a Bad Conduct Discharge.  That last one is pretty harsh.  Deserved in this case, but every time the kid applies for a job, he's supposed to put down that he left he Air Force and not under honorable conditions.  That affects a lot of future job prospects, which is a hard thing to swallow, even for me, and I asked for that sentence.

I learned a lot in this court - this is the first one that I've done from the beginning, so I learned a lot about what paperwork goes into a trial.  Here's a clue: a lot of fucking paperwork.  I also learned that I need to stop being afraid (not so much afraid as not knowing when it's appropriate) to object when the defense counsel steps out of bounds and says something they aren't supposed to.  I also learned that my maternity service dress, when properly altered, looks pretty good and is WAY more comfortable than my regular service dress.

So, that's it for this case, now it's on to the next!

Latest case

Ladies and gentlemen, I present.....

The Mysterious Case of the Last Minute Criminal

Welcome to the latest installment of "My Life as Trial Counsel".  Let me fill you in on my latest case.  I was assigned as assistant trial counsel in a case of US v. Senior Airman B, who was charged with possession of marijuana and cocaine with the intent to distribute. 

The facts were pretty simple.  B gets pulled over in Philly for having dice in the mirror (go ahead, sing the Fresh Prince theme song now) which apparently is a crime in Philly.  Brutal.  B hands over his military ID to the cop.  Smart move -  I do the same thing to get out of tickets.  It's cool to be a Soldier.  The cop assumed that every military person carries a weapon (don't we??) and asks if B has a weapon in the car.  Of course, he does, and he gestures down to the floor where the cop spies the handle of a pistol.  That's loaded.  And rolling around in the car.  Exactly how I keep my handgun when I travel.  Cop, a tad concerned for his safety, gets B out of the car, does a quick pat down and reaches in to retrieve the weapon (this is all lawful under several United States Supreme Court cases, like Terry v. Ohio and Michigan v. Long and it allowed me to actually use my crim pro from law school to argue).  While he's retrieving the weapon..what's that weird smell?  Why, that's MARIJUANA!  Cop opens up the center console (also legal for various reasons I won't bore you with, but I totally won this motion) and lookey here, there's marijuana and 15 little bags of cocaine in the car.  You guessed it - under arrest.

Then it gets interesting.  B tells the the cop that he loaned his car to someone he couldn't name for $250 and that guy left the drugs in there.  (That poor mystery guy is out $250 AND all those drugs?).  Later, he tells his Air Force leadership that the cops found the drugs in a gym bag in his car along with his friend's ID and his friend confessed.  Philly doesn't care about this crime because this is pretty standard for this part of Philly (sad, but true) so they give the Air Force jurisdiction.  Well, guess who takes this seriously?  Uncle Fucking Sam!

So, we prosecute.  Now, the week before and of trial is pretty exhausting.  Last minute witness interviews, getting the defense's motions to suppress everything their client did, trying to write intelligible responses to the motions - it's insane.  The night before trial, I was at work until nearly midnight.  Had I stayed ONE MINUTE later, I would have seen, you guessed it, ANOTHER MOTION from the defense counsel roll in my inbox at 12:00 on the dot.  Just like civilian court, we have timelines in which to turn things in, and although a defendant always gets the benefit for having bad counsel who can't turn in motions on time, it's still pretty poor lawyering to throw motions at the other side that late in the game.  

But believe it or not, that's not the most interesting thing that happened the night before trial.  Lo and behold, one of B's friends in Philly contacts the Air Force Investigators and says to them over the phone "Oh hey, those were my drugs that I left in the car."  What, what, WHAT?!  This is what we call a Law and Order moment - so ridiculous it never happens.  Except it totally did.  So, we let the defense know, assuming they are going to ask for a continuance (delay) because hey, their guy looks innocent.  Well, turns out the defense already knew about this, but for some reason were choosing not to call this new guy as a witness.  I still don't know why.  But, because the defense was woefully unprepared for trial, they ask for a continuance anyway.

The day of trial, the judge decides to rule on other motions first before dealing with this last minute criminal.  We argue about getting the drugs in (win for Ali!) and get them in.  We argue about getting in statements made to the cops (win for Ali!) and we get them in.  I got to interview one of the Philly cops on the stand, a big young hilarious cop that likes to talk A LOT.  He told me to give him "the look" when he was talking to much and after he was done, made me rate him on a scale from 1-10.  Luckily he was an 8.7 that day.  And during one of our late afternoon breaks, my boss comes into the courtroom to inform me and my co-counsel that last minute criminal not only told the Air Force he committed this crime (we can't do anything to civilians so it wasn't very credible information), he's now walked into the Philly police department and turned himself in and is currently being booked.  Holy crap.  

Can you say "acquittal"?  I sure can.  Now, we can continue to prosecute B.  If he knew the drugs were in there, he's guilty of possession.  And we know he knew they were in there.  It just becomes harder to convince a jury that he knew when someone else has already confessed.  Of course, THAT guy is being released in Philly because, again, Philly doesn't care about this minor little drug possession.  We delay trial for a day, argue more motions (more wins for the government) and have to sit through a very awkward chastising on the record of the defense counsel by the judge for turning in motions late.  It was pretty embarrassing.  For defense.  Not for me.  

We then agree to all delay trial for a month.  Over the next week, we find out some pretty interesting things, but the powers that be decide to withdraw charges, so the trial is over.  I got to get some great experience, interview a witness on the stand, argued motions, wrote responses to motions, and really felt like a team with my co-counsel.  

An exhausting experience, but never a dull moment!

I just didn't agree with you

Every JAG gets their first court.  Will it be a sex case?  Child porn?  Drugs?  Mine was none of these, but was the first in a string of copper thieves.  And, since I like to give my cases Nancy Drew names, I called this one:

Lieutenant Colonel Vivians and the Case of the Missing Copper

See?  Doesn't that make it more fun?  Anyway, there were four stupid Airmen all stealing copper wire from a warehouse, when they were supposed to be moving it.  I guess technically they moved it...to their house.  They'd strip off the wire then go off-base to sell the copper for cash.  Nice, huh?  Wish I'd thought of it.  Oh wait, no, that's illegal.  It violates Article 81 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (conspiracy), 108 (larceny), 121 (wrongful sale of government property) and we threw in a little Article 92 actions (failure to obey an order) because none of them could keep their trap shut when the cops told them not to discuss the case.

So I went first with my guy...the ringleader.  And, it was a guilty plea - he admitted to EVERYTHING!  Already starting with a "win".  I like it.  Now, all I have to do is get the judge to grant a good solid sentence to set the tone for all the rest of the courts and to break the ice with my first case by getting some good justice done for the old U.S.A.

I got up in my argument, called the accused a conspirator and thief (it's ok - he IS a conspirator and thief), justified my recommended sentence, had a great theme, was clear and calm, but indignant that this Airman thought he could steal from MY Air Force.  The judge seemed to love what I was saying.  Someone started to softly hum Battle Hymn of the Republic (not really).  The defense did a good job, and the accused's tears (and those of his pregnant wife) were a nice tough - obviously staged.  I had this locked up, and the accused soon would be. 

Have I mentioned overconfidence as one of my faults?

And then the judge gave out his sentence (enter screeching sounds of halting justice here.)  A reprimand, some money taken away, reduction in rank, and....wait for it....hard labor without confinement for 45 days.  

The eff?  Now, my non-JAG friend, that may sound horrible.  But it's not.  It's extra chores.  He doesn't get a punitive discharge, he doesn't even get CLOSE to the 6 months of confinement I urged the judge to impose (we had an agreement beforehand that he wouldn't ever serve more than three, so I have to aim high - Air Force pun intended).  The last time this guy did chores, he FUCKING STOLE COPPER.  But, who cares about that?  The judge, in his feedback to me said things like:

• Loved your argument
• Don't change a thing
• You said XYZ - that was great.
• You said ABC - I was thinking the same thing
• "I just didn't agree with you"

Hard to work on your advocacy skills when obviously I am the greatest attorney ever....to not listen to. 

The light sentence wasn't my fault - I did a great job.  But, it's tough knowing that the ringleader of a copper-stealing conspiracy of idiots is getting off pretty light.  Especially since it's my first case. 

But, C'est La Vie.  There will always be more cases for this Captain Nancy Drew to solve/prosecute.  Hopefully the other attorneys on the rest of the conspiracy case give better arguments or have more prosecution-friendly judges!

Court-Martial - take 1

Last week, I had my first practice court-martial here at Air Force JAG school.  The scenario was pretty simple, and the exercise wasn't too hard, but it provided some GREAT insight to my practice style and what I need to do to be a better trial counsel.

The facts were that an airman was pleading guilty to using, possessing, and distributing LSD.  He got it in the mail, gave some to another airman, and they used together.  He also sold to a civilian off-base.  So, the judge takes him through all the elements of his crime, he admits to everything, the judge decides he is pleading guilty because he believes he's guilty, and that's that.

Mainly the point of today was to argue sentencing.  After someone is found guilty or pleads guilty, they are sentenced.  In our scenario, we had a deal with the accused to 18 months of confinement.  If the military judge listens to are argument and decides the airman should receive more than 18 months, he only gets 18 months.  If the judge decides the airman should receive less than 18 months, he receives whatever that lesser sentence is. (weird, I know)

Basically what we do in this situation is introduce document evidence and call a couple of witnesses who can provide extra information as to why this airman deserves what we're going to ask the judge to give him. These documents are his enlisted performance reports, negative counseling, etc.  The witnesses are 1) the other airman he did drugs with, who is testifying under immunity, and 2) the investigator who headed up the case.  After all of that is done, the airman gives a statement, and both sides make a final argument and the judge decides.

Here's my good points from today, things that the "judge" and "defense counsel" (they are both instructors) thought I did well.

• Argument: I tried to throw in a little of my natural sarcasm.  It's hard to develop a "tone" for argument.  They tell you to be yourself, but I don't want to be too jokey/sarcastic.  I said things like "He's provided letters of support that say he's an asset to the Air Force.  As what?  If the Air Force needs drugs dealers, then sure, he'd be a great asset!"
• Pre Trial Conference.  I ran a pre-trial meeting with everyone just laying out the situation for the "judge" and he appreciated my organization.
• Introduction of Evidence: My instructor thought I correctly and thoroughly introduced the evidence that I had.
• Answers to objections:  I did a good job of answering the objections that I KNEW I was going go get (see below for the counter to this)

Here's some improvements I have to work on:

• Volume:  I'm actually not loud enough in the courtroom.  I feel like I can hear myself, but the judge, and sometimes the jury (we call them "members") might be further away.
• Answer to objections: I'm not great with answering objections that I DO NOT know I'm going to receive.  What can I say?  I hate improv, I love scripts.  I made some objectionable statements today and when the other side objected and stated their reason, I was quick to just withdraw my statement instead of try to rephrase it or argue the objection.
• Objections:  Along the same lines, I need practice running through objections so I can better hear when the opposing makes objectionable comments.  I don't think I objected once today where I wasn't expecting to before the trial.
• Being Myself: I still don't feel like "me" in a courtroom, and I make it too much of a performance than a conversation, which I think is where I need to get.

So, all in all, not bad.  Speak louder, get more comfortable with objections.  Not a problem.  I lucked out and had a great set of instructors acting as the judge and opposing counsel that really could point me in the right direction for help.

Court-martial #2 is coming up next week and it's a doozy - let's hope I learned something that will be useful!

I did it!

Harley helps me study this summer

I passed the Massachusetts bar exam!

Rumors were flying that results had been mailed yesterday, so I was watching the mailbox like a hawk.  My mail comes in sometimes between 10am and 6pm, so I never know when my mail will actually get to me.  Well, a little before noon, I saw mail sticking out of my mailbox, so I knew it had arrived.  I thought I would be calm and cool opening the letter, but I was a ripping, flying maniac.  I barely skimmed the "Congratulations!" before yelling "Ohmygod, Ohmygod, I passed!" and running back into the living room to grab my phone and call Jon.

Now I can get rid of all of my bar review materials (sending most to my best friend who is taking the bar for the first time in February), not have to worry about studying with an infant, and hopefully get my assignment from the Air Force.

Tonight, Jon said we can celebrate however I want, so the rest of the day is devoted to figuring out what I want to do!  Unfortunately, I can't go out and drink like I'd like to, and there aren't any movies I'm super-interested in.  It might just be a low-key night, but a happy happy happy one!