- after appellant testified on her own behalf, a court member asked if she was aware of the concept of lying by omission by exercising her right to remain silent; after the defense moved for a mistrial, the military judge denied the motion and provided the following curative instruction to the members: “You may not consider the accused’s exercise of her right to remain silent in any way adverse to the accused. You may not consider such exercise as lying by omission.”; in this case, the member’s question was not so prejudicial that a curative instruction was inadequate, and there is no evidence the members did not follow those instructions; as such, the military judge did not abuse his discretion by denying the motion for mistrial and he did not have a sua sponte duty to excuse the court member
- to avoid issues with questions posed by members, the military judge should review and rule on the member’s questions before permitting them to be asked
CAAF Opinion Digest · II.D.6 · Court Members
Interrogation by Members
3 digested opinions, 1999–2014 Terms
2014 (September Term)
2012 (September Term)
- Article 46, UCMJ, gives panel members the opportunity to obtain witnesses and other evidence; under RCM 921(b), members may request that the court-martial be reopened and that additional evidence be introduced; the military judge, may, in the exercise of discretion, grant such request; in addition, MRE 614(a) allows members to request to call or recall witnesses to testify at a court-martial
1999
- practice of permitting court-martial members to ask questions of witnesses is of long-standing and recognized, and CAAF was not convinced that this procedure rendered the members partial or biased as a matter of law
Source and status
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Last updated by the court: Oct 13, 2026 · mirrored Oct 29, 2026 · digest page IID6 · Always confirm a holding against the opinion itself (linked from each case name).