52 - United States v. Brown and Victim Writs

Send us Fan MailIn this week's episode I discuss United States v. Brown, which is an interesting case insofar as there are three separate opinions with different answers on two aspects of the offense of disrespecting an NCO.  Specifically,  1) does the requirement that the disrespectful language be "used toward and within sight or hearing" of the victim require that a disrespectful text be written and sent within sight or hearing of the victim?  And, 2) does the requirement that "the victim was then in the execution of office" require the victim to be in the execution of his or her office at the time the disrespectful text was sent?  Major Ciara Ryan also returns with an excellent discussion of a hot topic -- writs submitted to the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals by a named victim.  This is becoming more and more common and defense counsel need to be prepared to limit the potential of any negative impacts to the client.