U.S. v. Green, 68 M.J. 360

Military Justice Personnel: Defense Function: Effective / Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

1. in order to prevail on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, an appellant must demonstrate both (1) that his counsel’s performance was deficient, and (2) that this deficiency resulted in prejudice
2. in order to show prejudice on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, the defendant must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different; a reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome
3. failure of civilian defense counsel to subpoena a child victim’s mental health records from a lock-down facility where the victim lived prior to living with the accused and his wife did not prejudice the accused in his prosecution for sodomy, assault, and indecent acts, and thus did not amount to ineffective assistance of counsel, where the counsel thoroughly cross-examined the victim about her stay at the facility, elicited an admission from the victim that she had told someone else that she had never had sexual intercourse or oral sex with the accused and that the accused had never touched her in any sexual sort of way, and successfully obtained acquittal of 7 of 13 thirteen specifications of which the accused was charged, including all of the offenses for which the victim’s testimony was the only evidence; the victim’s mental health records, if any existed, would not have further discredited her to the extent that there was a reasonable probability that the accused would have been acquitted of additional specifications

Military Justice Personnel: Court Members: Generally

1. courts in the military justice system may not consider members’ testimony about their deliberative processes

Core Criminal Law Subjects: Evidence: Generally

1. courts in the military justice system may not consider members’ testimony about their deliberative processes

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

1. in order to prevail on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, an appellant must demonstrate both (1) that his counsel’s performance was deficient, and (2) that this deficiency resulted in prejudice; an appellate court may address these prongs in any order it chooses, because appellant must meet both in order to prevail
2. an appellate court reviews ineffective assistance of counsel claims de novo
3. in order to show prejudice on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, the defendant must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different; a reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome