A military prosecution for CSAM under Article 134 requires the government to prove knowing possession of contraband, among other things. Military members often have bad ideas about how to defend themselves in this kind of case and take action that only makes the situation worse. There are things they can do to help themselves, and hiring a good military lawyer who will be proactive during the prolonged investigative period is one. McGuire AFB (Joint Base MDL) is a particularly good illustration of how all this works. What the Government Has to Prove Article 134 CSAM isn’t a strict liability offense. It’s crucial to understand how military CSAM cases are prosecuted and defended. The government has to prove the accused acted knowingly, and “knowingly” covers both […]
How The Military Prosecutes Contact Sex Offenses
Military sex offense law under the UCMJ covers a dozen or more distinct crimes spread across six different sections of the code. Contact offenses allege physical sexual conduct and are prosecuted under Article 120 for adults, Article 120b for children, and Article 134 for sexual harassment. A single incident can produce half a dozen overlapping charges, and the table below shows what the government has to prove for each one. Conduct that doesn’t look sexual on its face can still be charged as a sex offense under Article 120, like hazing. In many sexual assault cases, and some cases involving minors, an accused might be able to mount a defense based on an honest mistake about consent or age. OSTC, the military’s congressionally-mandated elite prosecution […]
ICAC Stings at Shaw AFB and Other Military Bases
ICAC sting cases are mushrooming across every service. Shaw Air Force Base is one of the clearest examples: the cases occur there often enough, and follow a defined enough pattern, to illustrate what happens everywhere. A good Airman slowly morphs into a court-martial defendant through choices he makes, in a sting designed to get him to make exactly those choices. The military prosecutes these cases aggressively, but the defense can challenge the ICAC undercover standards if the attorney knows what to do. ICAC cases take a long time to develop, which is both the danger and the opportunity, and there are things an Airman should do, and not do, before the charging decision is made. How a Good Airman Slowly Morphs into a Court-Martial Defendant […]
How to Get a Fair Trial in a Military Sexual Assault Case
If you or someone you know is facing an Article 120 sexual assault allegation in the military, you’re against a massive, coordinated campaign to get a conviction. The complainant gets an entire institutional support apparatus: advocates, individual legal counsel, expedited transfers, and command support. The accused gets an attorney, someday. Congress mandated the creation of a prosecution corps, OSTC, specifically to increase conviction rates in military sexual assault cases. The examples below come from a real visit to Cannon Air Force Base, but the sexual assault grievance industry works like this at every U.S. military installation worldwide. A great attorney can overcome all of the bias. How the System Treats the Accused vs. the Complainant Picture this scenario, borrowed from similar real-life cases. A female servicemember […]
What To Do If You’re Under Investigation for Sexual Assault in the Military
You’re facing the most aggressively prosecuted charge under the UCMJ. Article 120 cases now fall under OSTC’s exclusive jurisdiction, which means a dedicated prosecution office with handpicked trial attorneys is deciding whether to take your case to court-martial. Congress created OSTC because it didn’t think commanders were prosecuting enough sexual assault cases, and it felt the acquittal rate at trial was too high. OSTC exists to increase conviction rates, not to ensure fair trials. The Sexual Assault Response apparatus (SARC/SAPR) runs a parallel operation that goes beyond supporting the accuser: it briefs commanders, trains unit members, and saturates your installation with messaging that contaminates the potential jury pool before you ever see a courtroom. You’re facing a system built to convict you. What you do […]
Civilian Military Lawyer vs Appointed JAG Defense Counsel
You’re facing a court-martial or a separation board, and the military is going to give you a lawyer for free. So why would you spend money, money that might be hard to come by, on a civilian military defense lawyer? It’s a fair question. The answer has nothing to do with whether JAG defense counsel are good or bad. Some of them are excellent. The answer is in the structure of the system itself, and what that structure can’t give you no matter who’s assigned to your case. Differences Between Civilian Military Defense Lawyers and JAG Defense Counsel In the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, you probably won’t get a JAG defense counsel until you receive court-martial charges or notification of a separation […]
The Matti Appendix: 22 Ways Prosecutors Break the Rules in Closing Argument
In a single 2026 opinion, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the highest military court, identified 22 forms of prosecutorial misconduct in closing argument alone, catalogued decades of abuse, and then affirmed the conviction anyway. Which it has been doing for decades. CAAF has a long history of complaining about prosecutorial misconduct and doing nothing to put an end to it. Prosecutors can get away with almost anything, even calling the accused a pig. By affirming the conviction in this case while publishing a long list of the most egregious forms of abuse, CAAF sent a clear message to everyone currently under investigation: no one is coming to save you. Courts See the Abuse, Get Mad, Fix Nothing Prosecutors aren’t allowed to tell […]