A Coast Guard company commander faced a special court-martial for alleged negligent dereliction of duty during recruit training. The defense won a significant ruling on the legal duty asserted by the prosecution, and the remaining charge was subsequently dismissed.

Testing the claimed duty

One part of the allegation asserted that the commander violated the Recruit Training Standard Operating Procedure by initiating prohibited verbal interactions with recruits who were undressed. The firm reviewed the procedure, investigation, witness statements, and factual setting. The defense argued that the cited procedure did not actually establish the prohibition the government claimed and therefore could not support a criminal dereliction offense.

The military judge agreed in a written ruling. The court found no established duty prohibiting the alleged verbal interactions, held that the challenged portion failed to state an offense, and determined that it had been improperly referred to court-martial. The defense prevailed on both grounds. The ruling turned on the text of the governing procedure: a dereliction charge requires an identifiable military duty, and the court would not treat the government's characterization of the procedure as a substitute for one.

The remaining allegation

The government also alleged that a recruit had been ordered to perform push-ups in a shower area. The defense disputed criminal dereliction and developed evidence that the push-ups lasted only seconds, that the recruit was promptly told to get up, and that confusion or miscommunication could have contributed to the event. Those were defense points, not a judicial resolution of the factual dispute. The military judge declined to dismiss this portion at the pretrial stage, finding probable cause for it to proceed. The defense continued its work, and the remaining Article 92 charge was later dismissed.

Result

The defense eliminated a substantial portion of the specification through a written pretrial ruling. The remaining charge was subsequently dismissed, ending the court-martial without a conviction.

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Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Results depend on the particular facts and legal circumstances of each matter.