More than 15 years defending article 120 sexual assault cases. Patrick Korody handled his first Article 120 UCMJ case in 2006.  For the last 10 years, he has been on the frontlines of the military’s war on sexual assault.  And, he has seen its casualties – countless good Sailors, Soldiers, Marines, Airman, and Coastguardsmen who […]

In 2014, a substantial change in the UCMJ took place.  The mandatory proceeding under UCMJ Article 32 prior to referral of charges for trial by General Court-Martial transitioned from an “investigation” to a “preliminary hearing.”  The primary motive for the change was the extensive cross-examination of complaining witnesses in military sexual assault cases.  Under the

Security Clearance – Guideline FFailure to File Taxes Can korody law help me obtain my security clearance? Korody Law’s success rate in its security clearance cases is extremely high.  We focus on representation of servicemembers, civil service employees, and government contractors before the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals and the Personal Security Appeals Board

In State, Federal, and Military Courts, almost every case now involves a smart phone: phone logs, text messages, photos, contacts, email…. you name it, and the police want access to the treasure-trove of information on the phone.  There are so many legal issues when it comes to searches of smart phones – vague and overbroad

A summary court-martial, especially after January 1, 2019, isn’t really a court-martial at all.  Effective January 1, 2019, as part of the Military Justice Act of 2016, a summary court-martial finding of guilty can never be a criminal conviction.  Prior to this amendment to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), states, who are the

When I first started practicing military law, the Navy had 4 Navy Drug Screening Laboratories (NDSL). NDSL Jacksonville – still open, though it has had issues in the past, it was generally thought to be the most well-run laboratory. NDSL Great Lakes – still open, has had at least 2 documented false positive reports and

NCIS Investigation Survival Guide Subject of a NCIS investigation? The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) investigates Sailors and Marines suspected of violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).  The most common offenses are Article 120 – Sexual Assault and Article 112a – drug offenses. Follow this guide if you are under investigation by NCIS.

I rarely bad mouth active duty JAGs who serve as assigned military defense counsel.  One reason is that I was one of them.  I supervised them.  I trained them.  Every day there are court-martial being defended where I had some type of impact on either the judge, prosecutor, or defense counsel.  In my reserve capacity

Florida’s “10-20-Life” law is a law that requires courts to impose a minimum sentence of 10 years, 20 years, or 25 years to life for certain felony convictions involving the use or attempted use of a firearm or destructive device. If the firearm is an assault weapon or machine gun, they must impose a sentence

This post will discuss retirement grade determinations (RGD) for Regular Navy and Marine Corps Officers.  This post addresses the situation in which an officer has earned the right to retire as an officer but may face a RGD. There are certain requirements to retire as an officer that will not be addressed in this post;