“A jury consists of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer.”
Robert Frost
Our Transparent Process Wins Not Guilty Verdicts.
Any accused service member needs to understand that even an innocent person, represented by a weak, inexperienced, or poor defense attorney, can be convicted.
So you need to be certain that your court martial lawyer is better than the government prosecutors trying to convict you. Not only does your chosen defense attorney need to know the facts of the case backwards and forwards, he must also be able to deliver those facts with the passion and energy needed to convince the jury to vote NOT GUILTY.
Have you ever wondered exactly what your lawyer is doing to protect you or how your legal fees are being spent?
01
We Do The Investigation Ourselves
We don’t farm it to others, especially retired cops or investigators that aren’t defense lawyers and therefore don’t think like defense lawyers. In fact, our trial strategy often involves discrediting military or civilian law enforcement as being ineffectual and sloppy investigators.
Some defense counsel simply rely on the military law enforcement investigation report compiled by NCIS, CID, or OSI. This is a recipe for disaster, as those reports are often stuffed with errors, critical omissions, misleading exaggerations, and lies.
We scour the law enforcement file. We interview hostile witnesses. Even if it means visiting a blood splattered room, scouring a creek bed for a phone, or a million other scenarios—a defense investigation is not work for the timid. Liebenguth Law goes over every potential piece of evidence with a fine-toothed comb, and if we need an expert in DNA, forensics, false confessions, or any other scientific field, we go for the best.
02
Physical and Mental Preparation
Winning at trial also comes down to having a court martial lawyer who has the dedication, physical endurance, and mental stamina to exhaustively prepare for every aspect of trial, including: jury selection, opening statements, witness cross- examinations and direct examinations, objections, and closing arguments.
Months of focused preparation are required. Some defense attorneys just aren’t willing to put that type of hard work in. That’s not Liebenguth Law, and past performance shows it.
03
Strategic communications with military prosecutors
Prosecutors love to talk about how strong their case is. In the process, they almost always reveal more than they should, including weaknesses that they don’t even see. This is a huge advantage that you cannot afford to lose.
Some military attorneys take the “tough-guy approach” and cut off communications with military prosecutors. In our view and experience, this is a huge mistake, one that could be catastrophic for you. It’s like conducting an attack without doing any reconnaissance of the battlefield—don’t do it unless you want to get surprised and defeated.
04
Create reasonable doubt in the jury members’ minds
The case investigation is the collection of the evidentiary pieces that are available in a case. Trial preparation is the proper assembly of those pieces into a winning defense. No two defense attorneys will assemble the pieces exactly the same, but some will build a winning defense and others will build a losing one.
What’s the difference between the winning and losing attorney? It almost always comes down to being able to visualize how the pieces can be put together to create reasonable doubt in the jury’s mind. Some attorneys are good at it, some aren’t.
Despite the American mantra of “presumed innocent,” the painful reality is that in a military court martial an accused service member is often viewed as “guilty until proven innocent.” An inexperienced or weak court martial lawyer can make things even worse, as that weakness will be associated with you and with guilt.
Strength is the name of the game, and a strong court martial lawyer can convince a jury to vote not guilty. Remember, the jury pool is selected by the same person that decided to send you to a court martial—and the jury pool knows it—so you need a high-powered defense attorney that can effectively overcome that fact.
05
Cross-Examination
Nothing is more crushing to a military prosecutor’s case than to have his star witness—an agent from NCIS, CID, or OSI—have their credibility and the quality of their investigation shredded by an aggressive defense cross-examination. Sometimes the government’s star witness is the alleged victim or an expert brought in to convince the jury of your guilt. Regardless, for a court martial lawyer to win trials, he or she must be an expert at cross-examination, as it is often the cornerstone of a winning defense strategy that leads to an acquittal.
Equipped with knowledge and exculpatory evidence gained from a hands-on investigation, we can cross-examine government witnesses with a relentless eye toward a not guilty verdict.
06
Tactical Expertise
If you’ve never heard of an extraordinary writ, don’t feel bad, most military defense attorneys haven’t either. Even fewer know how to petition for one. Put in simple terms, when a military judge rules against an accused service member, his defense counsel can petition a military appellate court to reverse the judge’s ruling. Mr. Liebenguth has actually worked on stopping an accused’s court martial—midtrial—by preparing an extraordinary writ for a higher military court. This is the type of legal expertise you get with this law firm.
An Article 32 preliminary hearing’s purpose is to determine if there is enough evidence to proceed to a general court martial, your accuser doesn’t even have to take the stand and testify.
The Article 32 preliminary hearing has become little more than a rubber stamp of a proceeding. It used to be that witnesses actually testified at the Article 32 hearing. Today, the hearing is a shell of itself and has become a sham of a proceeding involving the shuffling of papers. If you’re accused of sexual assault, this sham can be even more painful. Alleged victims don’t have to testify and instead are shielded by their own government supplied attorney.
And don’t expect the government to call anyone else to testify either. Military prosecutors mostly view the Article 32 hearing as little more than a formality, a speed bump on the way to a general court martial. The deck is so stacked against a military accused that calls for reform have been made, but to date, no meaningful changes have been implemented. That’s why a military accused needs an experienced and aggressive court martial lawyer to come in and even the playing field. When Liebenguth Law shows up, calls witnesses and presents evidence showing your innocence, the government can sometimes be caught flat footed and a recommendation not to send your case to a court martial may be obtained.
Sometimes, for strategic reasons that we won’t touch on here, we may decide that it’s best to waive the Article 32 hearing. This often leaves the government wondering what it is we have that they’re not prepared for and they spend their time chasing ghosts. Meanwhile, we’re carefully planning a winning defense strategy.
It’s important to remember that the Convening Authority (CA) decides if charges are brought, not the Preliminary Hearing Officer (PHO). Some defense counsel mistakenly attempt to try the case at the Article 32 hearing, thinking that a great display for the PHO will prevent a general court martial. While this can happen under certain circumstances, it’s rare. Military lawyers who are not calculated in their approach to an Article 32 hearing, risk making things even worse for a military accused. Without a properly conducted investigation to develop a trial strategy early on, a careless or inexperienced defense counsel can irreparably damage a client’s case at an Article 32 hearing and may even contribute to a military accused’s conviction. Retaining an experienced court martial lawyer is therefore critical.
Need help immediately?
If you’re facing a military investigation or UCMJ charges, contact our office today for a free consultation and learn how we would investigate, prepare, and defend your case at trial.