Air Force military justice scholarship galore

New issues of both the Air Force Law Review and the Reporter have been published and both feature military justice content.

The first 2009 issue of the Air Force Law Review is available here. The lead article is a piece by Col Mark L. Allred, the Chief Trial Judge of the Air Force Pacific Judiciary Region, about depositions, VTC testimony, and even VTC videotaped depositions, using the court-martial case of United States v. Savard to explore these concepts. [DISCLAIMER: I'm the appellate defense counsel in the Savard case.] Col Mark L. Allred, Depositions and a Case Called Savard, 63 A.F. L. Rev. 1 (2009).

The second article is Maj Christopher Morgan's treatise on multiplicity and unreasonable multiplication of charges. Maj Christopher S. Morgan, Multiplicity: Reconciling the Manual for Courts-Martial, 63 A.F. L. Rev. 23 (2009). Maj Morgan is a professor in the Air Force Academy's Department of Law. I haven't been able to convince myself to spend part of my weekend reading a 50-page article on multiplicity. I'll plow through it next week and note anything significant that I find.

The Spring 2009 issue of the Reporter, available here, includes Maj Brian Thompson's argument against eliminating the members sentencing option. Maj Brian M. Thompson, Judge-Only Sentencing: Judicial Power Grab?, Reporter, Spring 2009, at 12.

The issue also includes a "Military Justice Pointer," noting that neither the DOD nor Air Force regulations governing sex offender registry have been amended to reflect the revisions to Article 120. Lt Col Eric Mejia, Art 120 and the Sex Offender Registry, Reporter, Spring 2009, at 17. The article notes that "DODI 1325.7 and AFI 51-201 are in the process of being amended." Id.

The issue also includes a case note on the United States v. Murphy court-martial and appeal. Lt Col Beth A. Townsend, Military Rule of Evidence 505(i): Defining the "Interests of Justice," Reporter, Spring 2009, at 19. The article is accompanying by a sidebar reporting the results of the Murphy trial. Id. at 21. [DISCLAIMER: I was an appellate defense counsel in the Murphy case.]

The issue also includes a piece by the Air Force's Chief Appellate Government Counsel using NMCCA's unpublished decision in United States v. Wilson, No. NMCCA 200102056 (N-M. Ct. Crim. App. Feb. 7, 2006), as a cautionary tale demonstrating the need for meticulously accurate convening authority's actions. Maj Jeremy S. Weber, Convening Authority Actions: Why It's More Important than Ever to Get Them Right, Reporter, Spring 2009, at 22.

Finally, whose picture is that on page 34 of the Reporter?