Should I Hire A Lawyer for My Military Court-Martial?
If you are charged at Special Court-Martial or General Court-Martial, you will be provided (“detailed”) with a free military JAG attorney. You are “charged” when you receive a preferred charge sheet. A “preferred charge sheet” is a charging document where UCMJ charges are sworn to by someone who has personal knowledge of the alleged offenses or has reviewed law enforcement reports investigating the alleged offenses. So if you are detailed a free military JAG lawyer, why should you pay for a civilian lawyer for your court-martial? A court-martial is a serious legal proceeding with serious consequences. Most lawyers would say that a military court-martial is a more serious proceeding than a civilian criminal case. Using a “free” detailed JAG attorney may turn out to be costly to you in the long run.
A Court-Martial Is Not a Fair Fight.
Most cases that are charged at court-martial are sex offenses. The most common is sexual assualt in violation of Article 120, UMCJ. The military has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault. The prosecution team is composed of experienced prosecutors (now called the Office of Special Trial Counsel or “OSTC”), a team of special agent investigators, and a victim support team. They have subpoena and search warrant power. Witnesses are ordered to speak to them. They have endless resources to make sure that the alleged victim benefits from continued cooperation (or fabrication) with the prosecution team. They have a forensic laboratory and experts.
The military then gives the member charged at court-martial a single lawyer. And, these lawyers are almost always less experienced than the military lawyers assigned to OSTC. They have many other cases. They have to complete military professional training and are worried about their next career move. They are not singularly focused on defending their cleints. They may fear challenging military authorities or the prosecution team. They are using their JAG service to gain experience, not utilize experience. This scheme is not a mistake. The military purposely wants an imbalance in the courtroom where the prosecution has more experience and more resources than the defense because the military wants convictions.
There Is No Substitute For Experience and Independence.
While military JAG lawyers detailed as defense counsel for members facing trial by court-martial are often inexperienced and lack independence, a civilian military attorney hired by the military member or his or her family is independent and has decades of experience. Independence is important because everything is on the line for the client. This includes a military career, health benefits, retirement benefits, and characterization of service. No military member facing court-martial should ever have his life, liberty, and career sacrificed so that a lawyer can gain experience or appease his or her military counterparts.
Civilian lawyers are totally independent and are oustides of the military chain of command. A civilian military lawyer’s fee is paid by the client or his or her family and this creates a special relationship with the client that can never exist with a detailed military counsel who is paid according to the military pay scale twice a month, regardless of how zealously he or she defends a client and the results they obtain in a court-martial. A civilian military lawyer is motivated to produce outstanding results because sucess impacts the lawyer’s professional reputation.
Civilian military lawyers, like Korody Law, have decades of experience in the military. For example, Patrick Korody has served as a military prosecutor, military defense counsel, staff judge advocate, and Article 32, UCMJ Preliminary Hearing Officer. Jason Ayeroff has served as a military prosecutor, military defense counsel, and a staff judge advocate for numerous General Court-Martial Convening Authorities (advising commanders on how to handle sexual assault prosecutions). Robert Crow has served as a military prosecutor, military defense counsel, staff judge advocate, military justice instructor, and circuit military judge. Combined, the attorneys at Korody Law have more than sixty (60) years of court-martial experience covering every issue and aspect of a court-martial.
Free Court-Martial Consultation
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Hiring a Civilian Military Lawyer for Your Court-Martial Will Make a Difference.
Hiring a civilian military lawyer to defend you at court-martial will positively impact every aspect of the court-martial. First and foremost, an experienced lawyer will take over your defense and form a well-organized team to defend you. Your military detailed JAG lawyer will continue to represent you but under the direction and guidance of your retained civilian lawyer. The civilian lawyer will control every aspect of your defense, applying his or her decades of experience to your case.
Even where the evidence is very strong and a guilty plea is inevitable, military prosecutors and commanders tend to give more favorable plea agreement terms to civilian lawyers. This is because subconsciously or conciously they see your detailed military counsel only at the rank on their collar device (normally a Lieutenant or Captain) but see a civilian counsel as a senior military officer or a lawyer with vast experience and superior to their own experience. And, in reality, Mr. Crow, Mr. Ayeroff, and Mr. Korody are all senior military officers (retired or reserve) with vast reputations across all of the military services.
If the case proceeds trial, civilian military counsel have a bank of legal motions, expert witnesses, and impeachment material to draw from. At Korody Law, we have been depositing into this bank for decades. There is rarely a legal issue that we have not seen before. Further, our lawyers have courtroom experience that no active duty JAG defense counsel can match. Patrick Korody has tried jury trials in state, federal, and military courts across the world. This includes death penalty capital murder cases – the most complex and high stakes type of criminal cases. In fact, he is one of the few criminal defense lawyers in the country that meets the American Bar Association qualifications to serve as a lead counsel in a capital murder case. Mr. Crow and Mr. Korody have tried every type of military court-martial case including sexual assault, indecent communications to a minor, possession of child pornography, conduct unbecoming an officer, desertion, possession and distribution of drugs, sexual harassment, larceny (theft), and espionage/mishandling of classified information.
Why Hire Korody Law for a Court-Martial?
You should be convinced at this point that if you are facing trial by court-martial – Special Court-Martial or General Court-Martial (or even adverse administrative action that an Article 15 or administrative separation) – that you need more firepower than the military will give your for free. The next question is who are you going to hire to defend your liberty and military career.
There are many lawyers that will show up in a Google search claiming to be the best military defense lawyer in the country. They pay Google and other services a lot of money for these labels and ads. Korody Law is not concerned with labels or outlandish claims of sucess. We are only concerned with helping our clients by zealously defending them. We are real military civilian defense attorneys with real experience.
Call Korody Law for a free court-martial case evaluation at (904) 383-7261.