Tuesday, November 21, 2006

US v. Dearing Reconsideration Denied . . . We REALLY Mean It!

Did anyone get the impression from the Daily Journal that someone had touched a nerve with the petition for reconsideration in US v. Dearing? Available here http://www.armfor.uscourts.gov/journal/2006Jrnl/2006Nov.htm. It was one of the longest and most citation filled denials I have ever seen. Maybe inconsistent arguments are a new focus for CAAF? I recall that Chief Judge Dorman of the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals spread the word, so to speak, that inconsistent arguments were "disfavored" at NMCCA when he was the Chief Judge. Maybe CAAF's staff includes some recently departed NMCCA judges?

1 comment:

Dwight Sullivan said...

Chief Judge Gierke was the author judge. Judges Effron and Erdmann joined his opinion. Judge Baker concurred and Judge Crawford dissented. Since the author judge is gone, pride of authorship doesn't explain the emphatic rejection of the reconsideration petition.

It appears likely that either Chief Judge Effron or Judge Erdmann authored the denial of reconsideration. (Also note that Clark Price was the trial judge, so he would have played no part in handling the reconsideration petition.)