As soon as an individual enlists in the military they become subject, immediately, to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. This Code is a standardized, fair system of criminal justice for all branches of the military and sets out specific definitions of crimes and explains the discipline that can be carried out for the violation of such crimes. In the process of determining the violation of crimes set out in the Code a service member may be subject to a court martial. This article will discuss what is entailed in court martial sentencing and appeals.

A Maher Legal Services attorney stated that “A court martial is somewhat related to a trial that civilians undergone in civilian courts. However, for service members there are three types of courts martial these are summary court martial which is in accordance to Article 15s, special court martial for minor offences - which is the same as a civilian misdemeanor and general court martial for more serious offences - which is similar to civilian felonies. As with civilians, service members have the right to free military defense counsel at a special or general court martial as well as civilian defense attorney representation.”

It has been recorded that 90% of all court martial result in convictions. After conviction comes extenuation and mitigation. One article states with regards to extenuation and mitigation that, “This is an opportunity for the service member to advocate for themselves and seek a reduced sentence. In civilian court the judge hands down the sentence to the accused, however, in court martial jurors hand out the sentence. At this time the prosecutor will be low key during this phase of the trial because a sentencing agreement may have already been reached. The Maher Legal Services attorney stated that “It is at this point in the court martial that the defense attorney will try to get a lesser sentence than the one that the prosecutor had previously agreed to. Being able to achieve this requires a certain skill, experience and knowledge of the law by the defense attorney.”

A special court martial conviction can be punished by a bad conduct discharge - which is the worst possible discharge to be awarded, up to 1 year in military prison or a full reduction in grade. A general court martial conviction can be punished by a dishonorable discharge and up to life in prison or the death penalty in some circumstances.

If the defendant wishes to appeal a court martial conviction, all courts martial convictions receive review from the Convening Authority. Basically the Convening Authority is the person who appoints the judge and jury for a court martial. This individual can either uphold the conviction and sentence, dismiss the case or reduce the sentence however he or she cannot increase the sentence. In order to come up with a decision a Convening Authority receives advice from a Judge Advocate as to what is the appropriate action to take. It must be noted that any sentences that involve a negative discharge or imprisonment of at least a year get an automatic appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeals in their branch of service. For representation by an experienced civilian military attorney contact a law firm of renowned professionals.

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