Service Members

Military Courts-Martial

General Courts-Martial: Maximum Punishment: Death, confinement for life, forfeiture of all pay and a Dishonorable Discharge (DD).

General courts-martial are convened by a “Convening Authority”, an officer vested with authority to order courts-martial. A Military Judge, a senior member of the service’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps, presides over the trial. The accused has the right to be tried either by military judge alone or by “members”. The members of a courts-martial are officers, although in some cases senior enlisted members can be designated. Superficially, trial by members in a courts-martial appears to be similar to civilian juries; however, there are significant differences. First, unlike civilian juries, military juries do not have to be unanimous to convict or acquit. Second, rather than having twelve jurors, general courts-martial are only required to have five members and special courts-martial are only required to have three members.

General courts-martial also have their own unique procedural rules, the Rules for Courts-Martial (RCM) and their own rules of evidence, the Military Rules of Evidence (MRE). Any attorney, civilian or military, who represents service members before courts-martial must be familiar with these rules. The MRE’s are similar to the Federal Rules of Evidence. The RCM’s, however, differ significantly from the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Another unique feature of military justice is that in the military, the accused can elect to be sentenced either by the military judge or the members of the court.

Appeals of Courts-Martial Convictions

Following a conviction and the imposition of sentence by a courts-martial, the conviction and sentence are reviewed by the officer who initially referred the case for trial. The officer exercising courts-martial jurisdiction can approve or disapprove the findings of the courts-martial, modify the finding (as long as they are not more severe) or order further proceedings. Once the convening authority takes action, the case can then be reviewed by the services, Court of Criminal Appeals. The Courts of Criminal Appeals are composed of senior members of the Judge Advocate’s Corp. Legal and factual errors are reviewed by the respective Court of Criminal Appeals which has the authority to reverse a conviction or sentence.

After a case has been reviewed within the military system, a convicted military member can appeal to the Court of Appeals of the Armed Forces.

Commander Boyle’s next to last assignment in the Navy was as the Executive Officer in an Appellate Defense Unit. In that capacity, he represented members of the Navy and Marine Corp before the Navy-Marine Corp Court of Criminal Appeals and the Court of Appeals of the Armed Forces. His last assignment was as a Commissioner on the Navy-Marine Court of Criminal Appeals. He is familiar with appeals and the operations of the Courts or Appeals. Commander Boyle is uniquely qualified to be your legal advocate in your criminal matter. Contact us today.

Administrative Measures