U.S. v. Henley, 53 M.J. 488

Military Justice Personnel: Court Members: Challenges for Cause

1. impartiality is largely concerned with whether the member can judge the case on the evidence and the law, and not on preconceived notions of how the case should be decided; military judge did not abuse her discretion in denying challenge for cause against member who had friends who were victims of related offenses as opposed to having a family member who was the victim of such an offense

Core Criminal Law Subjects: Crimes: Article 133 - Conduct Unbecoming an Officer and Gentleman Pre-2019 offenses

1. under the circumstances of this case involving long-term sexual abuse of appellant’s natural children, a rational finder of fact, given proper instructions, could conclude that possession of nude photographs of children and adolescents brings disgrace upon an officer of the armed forces

Core Criminal Law Subjects: Evidence: Other Acts

1. where victims of long-term sexual abuse as children testified about uncharged sexual abuse outside the statute of limitations, testimony regarding this uncharged sexual abuse was admissible as other crimes, wrongs or acts evidence under MRE 404(b)

Core Criminal Law Subjects: Evidence: Search and Seizure › Good faith exception

1. even if magistrate did not have a substantial basis for concluding that a search of appellant’s home would uncover evidence of wrongdoing, evidence was nonetheless admissible under good faith exception where: officers reasonably believed they were executing a valid warrant; officers did not act outside scope of warrant; and items seized were encompassed by the description in the warrant

Core Criminal Law Subjects: Evidence: Search and Seizure › Probable cause

1. although information presented to magistrate did not indicate that evidence of pornographic material had been seen in the 5 years prior to execution of the victims’ affidavits offered in support of search warrant, under the totality of the circumstances presented, the magistrate nonetheless had a substantial basis for concluding that a search of appellant’s home would uncover evidence of wrongdoing

Core Criminal Law Subjects: Evidence: Sexual Assault and Child Molestation

1. where victims of long-term sexual abuse as children testified about uncharged sexual abuse outside the statute of limitations, evidence was admissible to show appellant’s similar sexual molestation of his children

Trial Stages: Appeals: Standards of Review, Burdens, etc.

1. military judge’s ruling on admissibility of evidence is reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard
2. standard for reviewing a magistrate’s determination of probable cause is whether the magistrate had substantial evidence in the record to support his decision issuing the search warrant; reviewing court is not free to speculate about the impact of evidence which may not have been presented to the magistrate, but must review the record presented to the magistrate

Trial Stages: Appeals: Standards of Review, Burdens, etc.

1. military judge’s denial of a challenge for cause is reviewed for an abuse of discretion