Recent Blog Posts
Preferral of Charges
An accusation of sexual (or other) misconduct by an active-duty service member kicks off a series of actions: your personnel file is flagged, essentially putting your career on hold; you may be placed in some form of restraint or confinement; and the investigation of the allegation begins. If military investigators conclude that the accusation… Read More »
Robert Capovilla Appears as Expert on WAVY-TV 10
Robert Capovilla was recently interviewed by WAVY-TV 10 regarding the COVID vaccine mandate for members of the armed forces. To watch the clip, click here.
Military Investigations: Your Attorney’s Role
While law enforcement works to verify your accuser’s version of events, your attorney should be working to verify yours. When this is done properly, your legal team will be ready to refute the prosecution’s narrative and set the record straight throughout the case and at trial. One word of caution: Do NOT conduct this… Read More »
Military Criminal Investigations: Law Enforcement’s Role
The pre-preferral period of a military prosecution is the investigative period, where law enforcement determines whether or not sufficient evidence exists to file criminal charges. Most of the crucial information to be used at trial is usually uncovered during this initial investigation. This post looks at how law enforcement gathers evidence in response to… Read More »
Military Pretrial Confinement
You’re a U.S. military service member, you’ve been accused of a crime, and your personnel file has been flagged. What’s next? The military’s Rules for Courts-Martial (RCM) give commanding officers several options to exercise at their discretion at this point: you could be arrested and taken briefly into custody, placed under some form of… Read More »
Military Pretrial Restraint
You’re a U.S. military service member, you’ve been accused of a crime, and your personnel file has been flagged. You also may have been briefly taken into custody and released. What’s next? The military’s Rules for Courts-Martial (RCM) give commanding officers several options to exercise at their discretion at this point. It’s possible that… Read More »
Mickey Williams Appears on Newsy Morning Rush
Partner Mickey Williams appeared on today’s edition of Morning Rush with Alex Livingston to discuss a recent Pentagon report about sexual assault at U.S. military academies. In addition to dissecting some of the key metrics in the report, Mickey provided his thoughts on the impact of Covid on last year’s numbers as well as… Read More »
You’ve Been Accused of a Military Crime. Now What?
A lot happens in the span of time between being accused of a crime and being charged with a crime. This pre-preferral period, as it’s called, is where the military law enforcement agency (CID, NCIS, or OSI) investigates the accuser’s claims, and your chain of command gets its ducks in a row to begin… Read More »
The Problem with Three-fourths Panel Verdicts in the Military
It may come as a surprise to many that criminal convictions in the military justice system only require the agreement of three-fourths of panel members (i.e. jurors). Of course, this is very different than the civilian justice system’s standard, which has always required unanimous jury agreement for a criminal conviction. This stark difference in… Read More »
Advice to Family Members When Their Loved One is Accused
As military defense attorneys, it is common for our team to communicate with family members of soldiers, marines, airmen, sailors, guardsman, and cadets who are accused of a crime or other misconduct. This is sometimes due to the relatively young age of our clients, but more often it occurs because parents and spouses of… Read More »
