Rash of Death Penalty Reversals in Military Trials Raises Concerns

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Rash of Death Penalty Reversals in Military Trials Raises Concerns

Posted On : Jan-30-2012 | seen (847) times | Article Word Count : 702 |

Civilian legal community challenges military courts high rate of death penalty convictions and calls for an overhaul of the prosecutorial process, including putting more experienced attorneys on military death penalty cases.

According to recent an article by Marisa Taylor with Mclatchy Newspapers, there has been a rash of reversals on military death penalty convictions since the military’s appeals courts system was revamped in 1984, putting convicted military death row inmates on life in prison status and, for many, also making parole a possibility.

And the reversals, says Taylor, are being made not because sentences were deemed too harsh, but because of errors made along the way.

“Of the 16 men sentenced to death since the military overhauled its system in 1984, 10 have been taken off death row,” Taylor writes. “The military's appeals courts have overturned most of the sentences, not because of a change in heart about the death penalty or questions about the men's guilt, but because of mistakes made at every level of the military's judicial system.”

Those mistakes, suggests Taylor, include attorneys who “bungled” their cases and judges who failed to properly instruct juries and prosecutors who mishandled evidence.

These cases involving overturned death sentences, she says, involved murder and rape, “the kinds of criminals that many people would agree the death penalty should be reserved for.”

Critics of the reversals, not to mention the system itself, argue the military has botched so many cases because its judicial system “lags behind civilian courts and isn't equipped to handle the complex legal and moral questions that capital cases raise,” said Taylor.

While many civilian courts have demanded more experienced lawyers be appointed to capital cases and pushed for more uniform application of the death penalty, the military courts have failed to implement any major institutional changes to address such problems in more than a quarter of a century, Taylor said.

"If you have a system where it's always amateur hour and where the lawyers are always trying their first capital case, you're going to guarantee the same kinds of mistakes that have resulted in many, many cases being reversed — because of ineffective assistance of counsel — for the last 30 years are going to be made over and over again," David Bruck, the director of the Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse, a legal aid clinic, told McClatchy.

"Even worse, you may have cases where the person is not only sentenced to death because of their lawyers' mistakes but because the courts will say that it's close enough for government work."

Even though the military has assigned more seasoned lawyers in some recent high-profile cases, “the efforts are inconsistent and often can depend on the branch,” said Taylor, who sited the case of Charles Gittins, a civilian lawyer who hadn't tried a capital case but, although requested a more seasoned assistant counsel to help represent a client in a death penalty case, was denied.

By contrast, Taylor explains that Guantanamo detainees likely to face the death penalty before a separate military commissions system are guaranteed experienced attorneys due to a 2009 law requiring the military to appoint qualified attorneys or "learned counsel" for the terrorism suspects. No such provision exists for the regular courts-martial where service members face criminal charges, Taylor said.

"It's really bizarre to me that a terrorist who attacked the country can get qualified counsel but a U.S. citizen and soldier can't,” said Gittins, a former military lawyer. "

The military also dismisses its 80 percent overall sentence-reversal rate as a “natural part of the appeals process in highly scrutinized cases,” Taylor writes.

"Each outcome was entirely case-specific," Jennifer Zeldis, a spokeswoman for the Navy's Office of the Judge Advocate General, which had four of its five capital cases overturned on appeal told McClatchy. "Attempting to draw conclusions as to systemic issues is problematic because of the small number of death penalty cases tried over a wide number of years."

In January, the Army launched a review of its handling of capital cases, but officials said it wasn't prompted by any specific concerns.

"Any good criminal justice system worth its salt is constantly looking at how it does business," said Col. Chuck Pede, who oversees criminal law policy for the Army's Office of the Judge Advocate General.

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<h1>Rash of Death Penalty Reversals in Military Trials Raises Concerns</h1> Author: <a href='http://www.articleseen.com/profile_Richard Milano.aspx'>Richard Milano</a> According to recent an article by Marisa Taylor with Mclatchy Newspapers, there has been a rash of reversals on military death penalty convictions since the military’s appeals courts system was revamped in 1984, putting convicted military death row inmates on life in prison status and, for many, also making parole a possibility.

And the reversals, says Taylor, are being made not because sentences were deemed too harsh, but because of errors made along the way.

“Of the 16 men sentenced to death since the military overhauled its system in 1984, 10 have been taken off death row,” Taylor writes.  “The military's appeals courts have overturned most of the sentences, not because of a change in heart about the death penalty or questions about the men's guilt, but because of mistakes made at every level of the military's judicial system.”

Those mistakes, suggests Taylor, include attorneys who “bungled” their cases and judges who failed to properly instruct juries and prosecutors who mishandled evidence.

These cases involving overturned death sentences, she says, involved murder and rape, “the kinds of criminals that many people would agree the death penalty should be reserved for.”

Critics of the reversals, not to mention the system itself, argue the military has botched so many cases because its judicial system “lags behind civilian courts and isn't equipped to handle the complex legal and moral questions that capital cases raise,” said Taylor.

While many civilian courts have demanded more experienced lawyers be appointed to capital cases and pushed for more uniform application of the death penalty, the military courts have failed to implement any major institutional changes to address such problems in more than a quarter of a century, Taylor said.

"If you have a system where it's always amateur hour and where the lawyers are always trying their first capital case, you're going to guarantee the same kinds of mistakes that have resulted in many, many cases being reversed — because of ineffective assistance of counsel — for the last 30 years are going to be made over and over again," David Bruck, the director of the Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse, a legal aid clinic, told McClatchy.

"Even worse, you may have cases where the person is not only sentenced to death because of their lawyers' mistakes but because the courts will say that it's close enough for government work."

Even though the military has assigned more seasoned lawyers in some recent high-profile cases, “the efforts are inconsistent and often can depend on the branch,” said Taylor, who sited the case of Charles Gittins, a civilian lawyer who hadn't tried a capital case but, although requested a more seasoned assistant counsel to help represent a client in a death penalty case, was denied.

By contrast, Taylor explains that Guantanamo detainees likely to face the death penalty before a separate military commissions system are guaranteed experienced attorneys due to a 2009 law requiring the military to appoint qualified attorneys or "learned counsel" for the terrorism suspects. No such provision exists for the regular courts-martial where service members face criminal charges, Taylor said.

"It's really bizarre to me that a terrorist who attacked the country can get qualified counsel but a U.S. citizen and soldier can't,” said Gittins, a former military lawyer. "

The military also dismisses its 80 percent overall sentence-reversal rate as a “natural part of the appeals process in highly scrutinized cases,” Taylor writes.

"Each outcome was entirely case-specific," Jennifer Zeldis, a spokeswoman for the Navy's Office of the Judge Advocate General, which had four of its five capital cases overturned on appeal told McClatchy. "Attempting to draw conclusions as to systemic issues is problematic because of the small number of death penalty cases tried over a wide number of years."

In January, the Army launched a review of its handling of capital cases, but officials said it wasn't prompted by any specific concerns.

"Any good criminal justice system worth its salt is constantly looking at how it does business," said Col. Chuck Pede, who oversees criminal law policy for the Army's Office of the Judge Advocate General.About the Author: To know more about Hawaii Court Martial Lawyer please browse <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bileckilawgroup.com/">Hawaii Court Martial Lawyer</a>
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