TO:
FROM: Jack Starr, Paralegal
DATE: 29th September, 2015
RE: Sanity board
Question presented: On the memo addressed to my department, you requested the information regarding to a misconduct of a member of the army, I hereby respond to how a member of the army can be able to participate meaningfully in his defense; what a sanity board is, and how it should be requested. I include an answer as to whether and when a military judge is required by law to approve a sanity board request thus, how this rule is to be applied by the military judge.
Brief answer
Principle of Court Martial 706 permits military defense lawyers to demand a mental examination of their customer to figure out if the he or she needed mental obligation at the season of…show more content… A sanity board should be granted if request is not frivolous and is made in good faith. It may be prudent for trial counsel to join in the motion.
To determine criminal responsibility, the sanity board when used, must judge whether or not the defendant understood right from wrong. And as from tradition, the military has gone by this strict sanity defense standard. These defense standards are known as the cognitive prong.
A typical sanity board can take up to over a week’s time to be completed, whereas the report is produced within about a month. This will occur in two stages that include before and after referral of charges. Before referral of charges, an investigation into the mental limit or mental obligation of the denounced may be requested by the convening power before which the charges are pending for demeanor. After referral of charges, an investigation into the mental limit or mental obligation of the denounced may be requested by the military judge. The board power may request such a request after referral of charges yet before start of the first session of the court-military when the military judge is not sensibly accessible. The military judge may arrange a mental examination of the blamed in any case for any prior determination by the gathering…show more content… Each strategy used by protection lawyers has disadvantages. It is therefore an individual wish to measure the method’s pros and cons to be able to evaluate it. For this situation, they may see that what he would say to a rational sanity board may be overwhelmingly cursing. Indeed, even with this, always remember that the definite report of the board will be given to the defense, and after that the defense group can choose whether or not to use the outcomes. In any case, in case you're going to strive for absence of mental obligation, you must begin some place, with experts. There will dependably be conceivable downsides. Considering their inclination for offering everything to the media, I think that it’s abnormal that they fear something like RCM 706 and its procedural protections. This may additionally segue with the last