Choose Your Military Law Practice With Care

By Patricia Nelson


Being well prepared, especially when it comes to legal matters, is vital. If you're looking for a Military Law Practice in Evergreen, CO to help you with advice, defense and representation, choose one with the knowledge to bridge the military and civilian courts. The law firm you select should have experience in representing soldiers for civil, criminal and military issues.

You'll need to understand that you're going to be court-martialed and should therefore know as much as you can about this process. A court-martial is carried out to try members of the army for violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), the US army's criminal code. Lawyers for the government and the accused will argue the case for each side, which will be heard by the army's judge and/or a panel.

Of the three varieties of courts-martial: a summary type of court-martial is a simple process for those minor offenses. Officers can not get tried by a summary form of court-martial and enlisted personnel must agree to a summary type of court-martial. If the enlisted person refuses, the case may be tried through general or special court-martial.

Assault and Battery is the most common term when you assault and harm another individual. The difference between assault and battery is that an assault is an attempt (or the threat) to harm someone and battery is the actual physical harm committed to another person. An assault charge can be upgraded to aggravated assault when you attempt to cause death or serious injury to another. Domestic violence is another area of assault which is rather common in the armed forces, enough that the DOD had made this an item of concern. Frequently the victim will refuse to press charges because they don't want to harm their (or their partner's) military career.

Usually, service personnel are not entitled to legal representation in situations concerning divorce, child custody, or landlord-tenant issues. A civilian lawyer who understands the army pay and allowances system could be a useful resource when going through a divorce. Additionally, if this lawyer understand the Service Members Civil Relief Act, which is a federal law protecting army members from unreasonably creditors and landlords, this could work in your favor.

A General court-martial is similar to a civilian felony conviction. The accused will be heard by an army judge, a prosecutor and defense lawyer will be present and the jury will consist of a minimum of five selected officers. The maximum sentence options could include death, confinement, or a dishonorable discharge.

An interesting fact is that in September 1996, an amendment to the Gun Control Act of 1968 was passed, which banned the possession of guns by anyone convicted of domestic violence. The level of domestic violence is higher in military and police-work fields than most, and as a result of the aforementioned amendment, this has had a huge impact on the careers of many service members.

Should the offense be something that carries a death sentence, this will require all the court-martial members to vote guilty. For all other offenses, only a two-thirds majority "guilty" vote is required. Judgments of death, dismissal, discharge or confinement may be appealed. And as a final appeal, the accused can request a pardon from the President of the United States! Now, with the knowledge that you have rights to assistance from a lawyer, a speedy trial, a process of witnesses and evidence and the right to appeal, you can use this information to appoint legal counsel from army Law Practices in Evergreen, CO.




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