Air Force | NCO | Article 112a | Retirement and Rank Saved | Two Weeks Confinement
Our client, an Air Force NCO on the eve of retirement, tested positive for cocaine and THC. The unit was moving toward an Article 15 and separation board when he tested positive again. A court-martial was convened. We avoided a punitive discharge, preserved his retirement and rank, and held confinement to two weeks.
Marine Corps | E-4 | Article 112a | Acquitted
Our client tested positive for opiates. He had a prior lawful prescription, now expired, and the government’s theory was that he had gone back to the old supply. His wife said she had mistakenly placed the old bottle where he kept his ADHD medication. We investigated and confirmed that the pills were nearly identical in appearance — a detail that turned a common explanation into a credible one. We presented the physical evidence, the wife’s testimony, and character witnesses. Our client was acquitted.
Navy | Trainee | Article 112a | Honorable Discharge
Our client faced an administrative separation board after testing positive for morphine. We represented him at the board and secured an Honorable discharge.
Air Force | Captain | Article 112a | Full Exoneration | Career Saved
Our client faced administrative separation after testing positive for cocaine. We represented him at the discharge board before a panel of O-6s, aggressively challenging the collection and testing procedures, lab personnel records, and chain of custody. The board fully exonerated him. Career saved.
Air Force | NCO | Article 112a | Methamphetamine | Administrative Discharge | No Court-Martial | No Federal Conviction
Our client was accused of multiple uses of methamphetamine. We retained a forensic psychology expert and established that our client’s mental capacity was impaired at the relevant times, effectively halting the government’s ability to pursue the case. We negotiated an administrative discharge in lieu of court-martial. No federal conviction. No jail time.
Air Force | Officer | Article 112a | Nearly 20 Years | Marijuana | Retained | Career and Retirement Saved
Our client, an Air Force officer with nearly twenty years of service, allegedly tested positive for marijuana. Command bypassed court-martial and sent her directly to a show cause board. We documented prior lab errors, lab personnel misconduct, and specific errors in the testing process. Two board members sought her out afterward to offer their personal support for her continued service. She was retained. Career and retirement saved.
Air Force | E-4 | Article 112a | Cocaine | Acquitted | Judge Praised Defense on the Record
Our client tested positive for cocaine. At trial we attacked historical and recent lab errors and secured testimony from a chief master sergeant about our client’s outstanding military character. The urinalysis observer claimed he remembered our client behaving strangely during the test and intended to testify to that effect. We demanded an in-court identification lineup to test his recollection. He could not accurately identify our client. His testimony was suppressed. Our client was acquitted. The military judge addressed him from the bench and praised the defense work on the record.
Air Force | Security Forces | Enlisted | Mushrooms | Underage Drinking | Acquitted | Career Saved
Our client, a security forces airman, was brought to a special court-martial accused of taking illegal mushrooms and underage drinking. The government’s case rested on testimony and written statements from fellow airmen who claimed to have used drugs with him. We cross-examined those witnesses extensively, exposing inconsistencies, implausibility, and credibility problems, and called witnesses who testified to our client’s character and to the unreliability of the government’s witnesses. The panel acquitted on all charges. Our client resumed his career.
Marine Corps | Enlisted | Article 112a | Cocaine | Charges Dropped | Discharge Board Withdrawn
Our client was accused of cocaine use following a positive urinalysis. He turned down nonjudicial punishment to contest the charge. Facing a special court-martial, our pretrial efforts resulted in dismissal of the charges. The government then pursued an administrative discharge on the same allegations. We continued to represent him and welcomed the opportunity to defend him at the board. The board was withdrawn. Our client deployed.
Air Force | Field Grade Officer | Article 112a | Marijuana Conviction | Retained at Board of Inquiry | Retirement Saved
Our client, an Air Force field grade officer with nearly nineteen years of outstanding service, had been convicted of marijuana use at court-martial but spared a punitive discharge. He then faced a Board of Inquiry and potential OTH separation. Pretrial litigation and objections blocked roughly half the evidence the government sought to introduce. The board retained him after less than thirty minutes of deliberation. Career and retirement saved.
Army | Major | Article 112a | Larceny | False Official Statement | Three Months vs. Three Years
Our client, an aeromedical nurse, was brought to a general court-martial accused of stealing drugs from a medical kit during a deployment, falsifying documents, creating fictitious patients to obtain controlled substances, and multiple drug use charges. The initial charge sheet ran several pages. Over more than a year of pretrial litigation we got a significant number of allegations dropped. The government refused any resolution short of three years in confinement. As trial approached they agreed to cap the sentence at nine months. We presented our client’s stellar service record and documented how the government had disregarded his serious medical conditions, including a TBI sustained in the line of duty, and denied him due process throughout the investigation. The judge sentenced him to three months.
Air Force National Guard | E-9 | Article 112a | Coca Tea Defense | No Misconduct Finding | Retained
Our client, a reservist with twenty-five years of service, tested positive for cocaine. He maintained he had unknowingly ingested coca tea the night before the test. We had the tea tested by a forensic chemist, whose lab report concluded the explanation was probably accurate. At the discharge hearing we presented the report, then cross-examined the government’s own toxicologist until he acknowledged its credibility. We also cross-examined the commander and first sergeant and demonstrated they had shown extreme bias against our client from the outset. The board found no misconduct. He was retained.
Air Force | Enlisted | Article 112a | Four Positive Tests | Confession | 44 Days Confinement
Our client tested positive for cocaine four times and confessed to using it weekly for months. During the pretrial phase we identified serious mental health disorders underlying the addiction. The government refused to acknowledge them and placed her in a county jail pending trial. At trial we used the government’s own doctors to establish the severity of her conditions and demonstrated that county jail confinement was making them worse and violated her rights. The court granted substantial credit for time served. She was released immediately after trial, having served 44 days.
Marine Corps | Enlisted | Article 112a | Cocaine | Acquitted | Honorable Discharge
Our client faced a charge of cocaine use, with exposure to a year in confinement and a bad conduct discharge. Aggressive advocacy at trial resulted in a full acquittal. He separated with an Honorable discharge.
Air Force | Enlisted | Article 112a | Ecstasy Distribution | No Punitive Discharge | 45 Days
Our client, a junior airman, was charged with attempted distribution of ecstasy. Despite his cooperation, confession, and strong service record, the Air Force refused to allow separation in lieu of court-martial and insisted on jail time. We called the detachment commander of the Office of Special Investigations as a defense witness. The judge declined to impose a punitive discharge. Our client received 45 days of confinement and separated with a general discharge.
Army | E-9 | Article 112a | Multiple Positive Tests | PTSD | War Injuries | Retirement Saved
Our client, a reservist with twenty-six years of service, tested positive for marijuana, then cocaine, then marijuana again. The government sought an OTH separation. He had never tested positive before sustaining combat injuries and developing PTSD. We presented his career, his wounds, and the mental health consequences of his service. The board recommended a General discharge. His retirement was saved.
Air Force | Enlisted | Article 112a | Cocaine | Hair Test | Convicted | No Jail | No Punitive Discharge
The sole evidence against our client was a positive hair test. The government offered a deal: plead guilty, receive no worse than three months and a bad conduct discharge. We declined and went to trial. Our client was convicted, but the panel sentenced him to reduction to E-1, hard labor without confinement, and a reprimand. No jail. No punitive discharge.
Navy | E-5 | Article 112a | Cocaine | Board Found No Misconduct | Returned to Ship
Our client tested positive for cocaine on a random urinalysis. His commanding officer sought an OTH, the worst administrative discharge available. We assembled a comprehensive character package, called witnesses from his ship, and cross-examined the government’s expert scientist on the scientific evidence. The board found no misconduct and no basis for separation. Our client returned to his duties and continued his Navy career.
Marine Corps | Enlisted | Article 112a | Amphetamine | Methamphetamine | False Positive | Charges Withdrawn Day Before Trial
Our client failed urinalysis tests for both amphetamine and methamphetamine. Our pretrial investigation of his medications and expert forensic assistance established a strong likelihood the results were false positives. We presented this evidence to his command on the eve of trial. The convening authority withdrew the charges the following day. Career saved.
Army | NCO | Article 112a | Cocaine | Acquitted | Honorable Retirement
Our client, a retirement-eligible NCO with twenty years of service, was accused of cocaine use based on a positive urine test. At court-martial we cross-examined the government’s scientific expert thoroughly enough to create reasonable doubt about our client’s knowledge of any cocaine use. The panel acquitted. He retired honorably.
Air Force | Enlisted | Article 112a | OTC Drug Abuse | Ecstasy | No Jail | No Discharge
Our client, a young married airwoman, was court-martialed for abuse of Coricidin Cough and Cold and attempted use of ecstasy. We negotiated a strong pretrial agreement and then beat it at sentencing. The government asked for six months and a bad conduct discharge. We presented her work record, volunteer service, and history of emotional abuse. The panel returned a sentence with no jail time and no discharge.
Air Force | Enlisted | Article 112a | Drug Use | Four Witnesses | Acquitted in 30 Minutes
Our client was accused of using illegal drugs with a group of friends. The government’s entire case rested on testimony from four witnesses who claimed to have used drugs with her. We destroyed their credibility on cross-examination. The panel acquitted in under thirty minutes.
Army | NCO | Article 112a | Cocaine | Cops Lied | Charges Dropped Night Before Trial
Our client, an NCO with a spotless record, was seized at gunpoint during a drug raid at a civilian residence. Military police obtained a warrant and his urinalysis came back positive. Our investigation cross-checked police reports and tracked down the officers involved. We established that they had lied. The government dropped all charges the evening before trial rather than face our pretrial motions. Our challenge to law enforcement conduct triggered a separate police investigation.
Air Force | Field Grade Officer | Article 112a | Opiates | Poppy Seeds | Court-Martial Dropped
Our client, a pilot with more than twenty years of service, tested positive for opiates. By interviewing fellow pilots we documented that he had eaten poppy seed bagels before the test and established through forensic evidence that poppy seeds register as opiates on a urinalysis. The court-martial was dropped. Career and retirement preserved.
Navy | Enlisted | Article 112a | Cocaine | Testing Program Violations | Court-Martial Dropped | General Discharge
Our client had eight years of solid service when he tested positive for cocaine. He turned down nonjudicial punishment and demanded trial. The government initiated court-martial proceedings, but our investigation of the Navy’s drug testing program uncovered multiple violations by the personnel running it. The charges were dropped. At the subsequent discharge board, the government sought an OTH. We challenged the testing procedures and presented our client’s service record. He received a General discharge.
Army | NCO | Article 112a | Marijuana | Convening Authority Adopted Defense Recommendations as New Policy
Our client faced multiple marijuana charges. She was convicted and sentenced to five months confinement and forfeiture of $5,000, but avoided a punitive discharge. After sentencing we sought clemency based on her outstanding service record, her remorse, and mistreatment she suffered while in confinement. Our challenge to the installation’s drug testing procedures was strong enough that the convening authority cut her forfeiture in half, significantly reduced her confinement, and adopted our recommendations as the new standard drug testing procedure for the installation.
Air Force | Enlisted | Article 112a | Multiple Drug Use | 18 Months Exposure | No Confinement
Our client pleaded guilty at a general court-martial to multiple incidents of drug use. We secured testimony from both his first sergeant and his commander on his behalf, an unusual step that reflected genuine investment in his future. Despite the government’s request for at least eighteen months, the panel returned a sentence with no confinement.