U.S. v. Gutierrez, 57 M.J. 148

Military Justice Personnel: Staff Judge Advocate: Qualifications / Disqualifications

1. if an SJA testifies as a witness at a court-martial concerning a contested matter, he or she may be disqualified from thereafter serving as the SJA for the convening authority in that case
2. so long as it remains unresolved whether a guilty plea waives a speedy trial issue, testimony on a contested speedy trial issue involves testimony on an issue potentially subject to post-trial review, and SJA who testified on speedy trial issue placed herself in a position where she would be called upon as SJA to evaluate her own testimony regarding the contested speedy trial issue, thereby disqualifying her from serving as the reviewing SJA
3. having actively participated to orchestrate the timing of the Article 32 investigation to force the defense to assume responsibility for the delay in the preparation of the case against appellant, the SJA was not in a position objectively to evaluate the fruits of her efforts because she assumed a prosecutorial role in appellant’s case