Vast and Distinguished Military Appeals Experience

Jeff Liebenguth has handled military appeals cases involving almost every UCMJ offense imaginable, including convictions for the following:

• Premeditated Murder
• Attempted Premeditated Murder
• Rape & Sexual Assault
• Child Sex Crimes
• Indecent Acts
• Assault & Battery
• Larceny & Wrongful Appropriation
• BAH Fraud and Other Financial Crimes
• Receipt, Possession, and Distribution of Child Pornography
• Adultery
• Drug Offenses
• Communicating Threats
• UA, AWOL, Desertion, & Missing Movement
• Impersonating a Government Official
• Kidnapping
• Fraudulent Enlistment
• Illegal Pretrial Confinement
• Child Endangerment
• Disrespect
• DUI/DWI
• Fraternization
• Conduct Unbecoming
• Drunk and Disorderly
• False Official Statement
• Obstruction of Justice
• Illegal Possession of a Firearm
• Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
• Unconstitutional Punishment
• Prosecutor Misconduct
• Defective Guilty Pleas
• Biased Jury Members
• Hazarding an Aircraft

If you’ve been convicted of one of these military crimes or any other UCMJ offense and you’re not ready to give up, contact Liebenguth Law today and learn how we can help you restore you career, reputation, and future.

Understanding Court Martial Appeals

There are several different types of court martial appeals in the military. Which type of appeal your case will fall under depends on the sentence you received.

Automatic Military Appeals Under Article 66, UCMJ

Under Article 66, UCMJ, any case where a service member receives (1) a dishonorable discharge, bad conduct discharge, or dismissal for officers cadets, and midshipman, or (2) confinement for 2 years or more, receives automatic review by the service member’s court of criminal appeals. There are four criminal appeals courts in the military:

• Army Court of Criminal Appeals (ACCA)
• Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals (NMCCA)
• Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals (AFCCA)
• Coast Guard Court of Criminal Appeals (CGCCA)

If a service member’s appeal to the service appeals court is unsuccessful, they may petition the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) to review the lower court’s decision. CAAF is the highest military court in the land. Unfortunately, CAAF is not required to review the lower appellate court’s decision—it may grant or deny appellate review as it sees fit. CAAF generally only grants review on about 30 to 40 cases per year out of thousands, so you need an experienced military appellate attorney that knows the best practices for having review granted.

If a service member loses on appeal at CAAF, they may appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, which very rarely grants certiorari (appellate review) of military cases. 

Military Appeals by the Accused Under Article 66, UCMJ

If a service member is convicted at court martial and is sentenced to confinement for more than 6 months but less than 2 years and does not receive a punitive discharge (dismissal, dishonorable discharge, bad conduct discharge), appellate review is not automatic. Fortunately, the service member may proactively appeal the conviction to their respective court of criminal appeals.

If the service member loses on appeal at their service’s court or criminal appeals, they may petition the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) to review the lower court’s decision. But appellate review by CAAF is discretionary—it may grant or deny review at its discretion.

Military Appeals Under Article 69, UCMJ

For a service member convicted at a court martial that does not receive a punitive discharge (dismissal, dishonorable discharge, bad conduct discharge) or confinement of more than 6 months, they may appeal under Article 69 to the Judge Advocate General of their service.

The Judge Advocate General may modify or entirely set aside both the military member’s conviction and the sentence. Petitioning for appeal under Article 69 must be filed with the Judge Advocate General within 1 year after the date of SJA review under Article 64 or Article 65, as the case may be.

Military Appeals Under Article 73, UCMJ

At any time within 3 years of the entry of judgment, a convicted military service member may petition the Judge Advocate General for a new trial on the grounds of newly discovered evidence or fraud upon the court. Such appeals are rare, but if you feel you have newly discovered evidence in your case or a witness lied during your trial, it would be an incredibly strong basis for having your conviction and sentence thrown out and a new trial ordered.

If you or a loved one has been convicted at a court martial and you want to fight to have that conviction and the sentence overturned, contact Liebenguth Law to learn how we would aggressively represent you during your last chance to set things right.

Top 3 Frequently Asked Questions About Military Appeals

I think my defense attorney did a poor job at my court martial, does that matter?

Yes, it does. Unfortunately I hear this complaint from many service members on appeal. A lot of military members indicate that they regret trying to save money by having a free active duty defense attorney or relatively cheap civilian attorney represent them at their court martial. In many instances they only discover their mistake as their trial was progressing and it became clear that the attorney they chose was no match for government prosecutors.

Luckily, if your trial defense counsel didn’t properly represent you during your court martial, an ineffective assistance of counsel (IAC) claim can be brought on appeal. This issue essentially argues that a defense attorney’s performance was so inadequate that the service member didn’t receive a fair trial, which is a Constitutional right. If successful, you would get your conviction and sentence overturned and a new trial.

What are my chances of getting my conviction reversed on appeal? 

It depends. Every case is different so it is impossible to know what a convicted military member’s chances are on appeal without first reviewing the case. Some cases have numerous errors that can result in total exoneration or a new trial. Other cases have just one issue, but it is such a terrible error that the only fair result is to reverse the conviction. Some cases just don’t have any issues that will bring a service member relief from their conviction or sentence.  

If you’ve been convicted of a UCMJ offense and you want to get a no-nonsense analysis of appealable issues in your case, contact Liebenguth Law today for a free consultation.   

How do you prepare a case for appeal?

The first thing to do is read the entire record of a service member’s trial. The record of a court martial trial is usually between 800 and 1,500 pages, but cases that are over 10,000 pages long do arise. While reading the record of trial careful notes are taken and potential issues that would warrant a written argument to the appellate courts are highlighted.

As part of the case analysis a conversation with the defense attorney that represented the service member during his court martial will also take place. The purpose of this conversation is primarily to find out if there is anything missing from the record. We also want to get feedback on what the trial attorney believed went wrong and caused the service member to be convicted.

Once legal errors that we want to bring to the appellate court’s attention are identified, exhaustive legal research on each issue is undertaken. This involves scouring through legal opinions from the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF), each service’s Court of Criminal Appeals, the United States Supreme Court, and Federal Circuit Courts. A written legal brief is then carefully crafted that outlines the errors in the service member’s case that requires his conviction and sentence to be overturned or some other form of relief ordered.  

Finally, preparations are made for oral argument. This is an opportunity for military appellate judges to ask questions of both the appellate defense counsel and the appellate government counsel. Oral argument is almost always an extremely important part of a service member’s case on appeal. 

If you’re a service member that finds themselves convicted of a UCMJ offense, you can’t afford to have an inadequate or inexperienced appellate defense attorney representing you during your last chance for exoneration. Contact Liebenguth Law TODAY to learn more about Mr. Liebenguth would fight your conviction on appeal.