U.S. v. Dinges, 55 M.J. 308

Military Justice Personnel: Convening Authority: Disqualification

1. an individual is disqualified from acting as a convening authority who, by reason of having preferred the charge or undertaken personally to pursue it, might be biased against the accused, if indeed he had not already prejudged his case
2. an accuser is one who initiates a charge out of a hostile animus toward the accused or a personal interest adverse to the accused; for example, personal interests exist where the convening authority is the individual victim of the accused’s offense, where the accused attempts to blackmail the convening authority, or where the accused has potentially inappropriate contacts with the convening authority’s family
3. a convening authority is not disqualified because of misguided prosecutorial zeal or where the convening authority issues an order that the accused violates
4. convening authority was not disqualified in a case involving the accused’s misconduct within the Boy Scouts where: (1) there was no animus toward the accused; (2) the convening authority’s position within the Boy Scouts was honorary and nominal; (3) the initiation of charges was what any commander would do; (4) the convening authority had no further communications with the Boy Scouts about the matter after the initial report; (5) the convening authority was not the victim; and (6) the convening authority was not being blackmailed

Core Criminal Law Subjects: Motions, Generally: Standing

1. an appellant does not have standing to raise the violation of another’s Fifth Amendment rights

Trial Stages: Appeals: Generally

1. whether a victim/witness was given immunity under a mistaken belief that the victim/witness was under 16 years of age was moot where the government never called the victim/witness to testify

Trial Stages: Appeals: Invited Error / Open Door

1. invited error precludes any relief for error in the admission of testimony where that witness was called by the defense during the sentencing portion of the trial