JUDICIAL 

PROCEEDINGS 

PANEL

REPORT ON 

MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL 

RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE 

IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

April 2017

JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL

CHAIR

The Honorable Elizabeth Holtzman

MEMBERS

The Honorable Barbara S. Jones

Mr. Victor Stone

Professor Thomas W. Taylor

Vice Admiral Patricia A. Tracey, U.S. Navy, Retired

STAFF DIRECTOR

Captain Tammy P. Tideswell, U.S. Navy

DEPUTY STAFF DIRECTOR

Lieutenant Colonel Patricia H. Lewis, U.S. Army

CHIEF OF STAFF

Mr. Dale L. Trexler

DESIGNATED FEDERAL OFFICIAL

Ms. Maria Fried

Report of the Judicial Proceedings 

Since Fiscal Year 2012 Amendments Panel

Military Defense Counsel Resources and 

Experience in Sexual Assault Cases

April 2017

5

REPORT ON RESTITUTION AND COMPENSATION FOR VICTIMS OF ADULT SEXUAL ASSAULT CRIMES

April 24, 2017
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REPORT ON RESTITUTION AND COMPENSATION FOR VICTIMS OF ADULT SEXUAL ASSAULT CRIMES
1

Contents

Contents

Transmittal Letter 5

Table of Contents 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

SUMMARY OF JPP RECOMMENDATIONS ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL 

RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

II. DEFENSE INVESTIGATORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

A. Site Visit Information

B. Additional Information

C. JPP Assessment and Recommendation

III. DEFENSE OFFICE STAFFING AND RESOURCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

A. Site Visit Information

B. Additional Information

C. JPP Assessment and Recommendation

IV. DEFENSE EXPERT REQUESTS AND FUNDING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

A. Site Visit Information

B. Additional Information

C. JPP Assessment and Recommendation

V. DEFENSE COUNSEL STAFFING AND EXPERIENCE LEVELS . . . . . . . . . . . 19

A. Site Visit Information

B. Additional Information

C. JPP Assessment and Recommendation

Table of Contents
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REPORT ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

APPENDICES:

A. Judicial Proceedings Panel Authorizing Statutes and Charter 

B. Judicial Proceedings Panel Committee and Subcommittee Member Biographies

C. List of Installation Site Visits and Subcommittee Members in Attendance

D. Subcommittee Report to the Judicial Proceedings Panel on Military Defense Counsel 

Resources and Experience in Sexual Assault Cases

E. Judicial Proceedings Panel Staff Members and Designated Federal Officials

F. Acronyms and Abbreviations

G. Sources Consulted 
3

Executive Summary

In order to assess the effects of numerous changes in law and policy on the investigation, prosecution, 

and defense of sexual assault offenses in the military, the Judicial Proceedings Panel (JPP) tasked the 

JPP Subcommittee with conducting site visits to military installations to talk to the men and women 

who work in the military justice system. The JPP had previously heard information on many of these 

law and policy changes and wanted to determine how these changes were being carried out at the 

installation level by investigators, prosecutors, defense counsel, and others involved in sexual assault 

investigation, litigation, or victim support.

From July through September 2016, members of the JPP Subcommittee visited military installations 

throughout the United States and Asia. They spoke to more than 280 individuals representing 25 

military installations and all of the Services, including prosecutors, defense counsel, special victims’ 

counsel/victims’ legal counsel, paralegals, commanders, investigators, and sexual assault response 

coordinators and other victim support personnel. These individuals spoke without attribution so that 

the Subcommittee could gain an unfiltered, candid assessment of how changes in sexual assault laws 

and policies have affected the military justice system. On the basis of information from these site visits, 

the Subcommittee elected to issue reports on several topics. The Subcommittee issued its first report to 

the JPP—the Report on Military Defense Counsel Resources and Experience in Sexual Assault Cases—

on December 9, 2016.

In its report on defense resources and experience, the JPP Subcommittee detailed information gathered 

from military installation site visits and other sources in four areas: (1) defense investigators, 

(2) defense office resources and staffing, (3) defense requests for and funding of experts, and 

(4) defense counsel experience. The Subcommittee made recommendations in each of these areas. 

The JPP deliberated on the Subcommittee’s report and had the opportunity to question the JPP 

Subcommittee members who attended the installation site visits. As a result of this deliberation, 

the JPP’s report summarizes and adopts the information presented by the Subcommittee, provides 

additional information from Service responses to a JPP request for information, and adopts the 

Subcommittee’s recommendations, with modifications.

The JPP makes four recommendations in the area of defense counsel resources and experience, several 

of which had—in some form—been recommended by its predecessor panel, the Response Systems to 

Adult Sexual Assault Crimes Panel (RSP) in its June 2014 report to Congress. The JPP recommends 

that the Services provide independent defense investigators, ensure sufficient staffing and resourcing 

of Service defense offices, place expert witness approval and funding authority in the Service defense 

organizations, and ensure that lead defense counsel in sexual assault cases have sufficient litigation 

experience, setting a minimum tour length for defense counsel of two years.

5

Summary of JPP Recommendations on Military 

Defense Counsel Resources and Experience in 

Sexual Assault Cases*

SUMMARY OF JPP RECOMMENDATIONS ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL 

RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES*

Recommendation 39: In order to ensure the fair administration of justice, all of the military 

Services provide independent and deployable defense investigators under their control in sufficient 

numbers so that every defense counsel has access to an investigator, as reasonably needed.

• In its June 2014 report, the RSP recommended that the Secretary of Defense direct the Services 

to provide independent, deployable defense investigators. The RSP noted that civilian public 

defender offices routinely employ investigators and consider them indispensable.

° To date, only the Navy has complied with this recommendation, hiring eight civilian defense 

investigators. Site visit feedback from Navy defense counsel regarding the employment of 

defense investigators was overwhelmingly positive.

° The Army and Air Force are monitoring the feasibility of the Navy’s defense investigator 

program, but the Marine Corps feels that current procedures for requesting defense 

investigative assistance are sufficient.

• Since the RSP made this recommendation, statutory changes have been made to the Article 32 

process. Under the new Article 32 pretrial hearing process, witnesses, including the victim, testify 

at the Article 32 hearing far less frequently and less evidence is presented, making it more difficult 

for defense counsel to gain access to important information regarding the government’s case.

Recommendation 40: The military Services immediately review Service defense organizations’ 

staffing—defense counsel, paralegals, highly qualified experts, and administrative support 

personnel—and augment current levels in order to alleviate the reported understaffing. The 

Secretary of Defense should direct an independent audit of defense staffing across all military 

Services to determine the optimal level of staffing for the Service defense organizations in the 

long term and authorize temporary details from one Service to another to ensure expeditious 

disposition of allegations. Organizations that have conducted similar kinds of assessments of 

public defender resources in various civilian jurisdictions may be of assistance in conducting this 

audit.

* JPP Recommendations 1–11 are included in the Judicial Proceedings Panel Initial Report 11 (Feb. 2015), available at

http://jpp.whs.mil/public/docs/08-Panel_Reports/JPP_InitialReport_Final_20150204.pdf. JPP Recommendations 12–17 are 

included in the Judicial Proceedings Panel Report on Restitution and Compensation for Military Adult Sexual Assault

Crimes 5 (Feb. 2016), available at jpp.whs.mil/Public/docs/08-Panel_Reports/JPP_Rest_Comp_Report_Final_20160201_

Web.pdf. JPP Recommendations 18–23 are included in the Judicial Proceedings Panel Report on Article 120 of the

Uniform Code of Military Justice 5–7 (Feb. 2016), available at jpp.whs.mil/Public/docs/08-Panel_Reports/JPP_Art120_

Report_Final_20160204_Web.pdf. JPP Recommendations 24–36 are included in the Judicial Proceedings Panel Report

on Retaliation Related to Sexual Assault Offenses 5–10 (Feb. 2016), available at jpp.whs.mil/Public/docs/08-Panel_

Reports/04_JPP_Retaliation_Report_Final_20160211.pdf. JPP Recommendations 37–38 are included in the Judicial

Proceedings Panel Report on Statistical Data Regarding Military Adjudication of Sexual Assault Offenses 5–6 (Apr. 

2016), available at http://jpp.whs.mil/Public/docs/08-Panel_Reports/05_JPP_StatData_MilAdjud_SexAsslt_Report_Final_

20160419.pdf.

Summary of JPP Recommendations on Article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice
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REPORT ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

• In its June 2014 report, the RSP recommended that the Service Secretaries ensure that defense 

organizations are adequately funded and resourced. 

• The Secretary of Defense approved this recommendation and referred it to the Service Secretaries 

for implementation. In their responses to the JPP’s recent request for information, all of the 

Services stated that their senior-level defense counsel have training and experience comparable 

to or exceeding that of the prosecutors. They also stated that resourcing of defense offices is 

comparable to that of the prosecution.

• According to site visit feedback provided to the JPP Subcommittee, not all defense offices are 

adequately staffed or resourced; one defense counsel noted that his office had only one paralegal 

assigned to assist ten defense counsel. Testimony to the JPP from Army and Marine Corps 

defense leadership supports site visit feedback that these organizations are understaffed and 

under-resourced.

Recommendation 41: The Secretary of Defense direct the Joint Service Committee on Military 

Justice to draft appropriate rules and measures, as necessary, to vest defense expert approval 

authority and expenditure funding in the Service defense organizations.

• According to site visit feedback provided to the JPP Subcommittee by defense counsel and 

prosecutors, defense requests for expert witnesses and consultants in sexual assault cases are often 

denied or, if the requests are granted, defense counsel are provided a less qualified expert than 

that provided to the prosecution. 

• Current procedures in the Manual for Courts-Martial require defense counsel to request experts 

from the convening authority and require them to submit a statement of reasons why the expert 

is necessary. Given that these requests are typically processed through the trial counsel, such 

statements often force defense counsel to prematurely reveal trial strategy.

• Even when defense requests for experts are granted, the expert often arrives so late in the trial 

process that his or her ability to assist with defense strategy is curtailed.

• Civilian public defender offices routinely maintain their own funding for experts.

Recommendation 42: The military Services permit only defense counsel with prior military justice 

or civilian criminal litigation experience to serve as lead defense counsel in sexual assault cases.

The military Services should develop a formal process, using objective and subjective criteria, 

to determine when a defense counsel is qualified to serve as a lead defense counsel in a sexual 

assault case. In addition, the military Services should set assignment policies that provide defense 

counsel two or more consecutive years of experience in the role, to the maximum extent feasible 

at the same location. Exceptions to this policy should be personally approved, on a case-by-case 

basis, by the Service Judge Advocate General or Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant of the 

Marine Corps.

• There is a disparity among the Services regarding defense counsel experience requirements; the 

Air Force and Navy require defense counsel to have prior litigation experience, while the Army 

and Marine Corps have no such requirement. 
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SUMMARY OF PANEL RECOMMENDATIONS

• Several defense counsel on site visits told JPP Subcommittee members of their experiences 

defending sexual assault cases when they had very little litigation experience. All defense counsel 

recommended against assigning brand-new attorneys to defense counsel positions.

• In its June 2014 report, the RSP recommended that the Services permit only defense counsel with 

litigation experience to serve as lead defense counsel in sexual assault cases, and that defense 

counsel be assigned to that role for at least two years. The Secretary of Defense amended this 

recommendation to state that only counsel with prior litigation experience could serve as trial 

counsel and defense counsel in penetrative-type sexual offenses, and the minimum tour length 

was set at two years, to the extent practicable.

° In response to the JPP’s request for information, the Army stated that it considers litigation 

experience and the complexity of the case when assigning counsel, with inexperienced defense 

counsel typically being assigned to handle less complex cases and to assist more experienced 

counsel. According to the Army, its regional and senior defense counsel have the experience 

necessary to litigate complex cases and to help train more junior counsel. The Marine Corps 

also reported that it takes many factors into account when assigning defense counsel, such as 

the complexity of the case and the counsel’s experience level. For complex cases, the senior 

defense counsel must consult with the regional defense counsel to ensure that the right counsel 

is detailed to the case. The Navy and Air Force stated that typically only experienced counsel 

are assigned to defense counsel billets, with more senior counsel serving as lead defense counsel 

in penetrative sexual assault cases.

° With the exception of the Marine Corps, the other Services reported that defense counsel 

assignments are usually two years or more. The Marine Corps stated that defense counsel tour 

lengths are at least 18 months, which it considers adequate.

• A provision in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 requires the Services 

to ensure that counsel assigned to a case have sufficient experience to successfully prosecute 

or defend the case. This provision also requires the Services to use a system of skill identifiers 

to identify experienced judge advocates so that they can provide oversight to less experienced 

counsel. This provision calls for a five-year pilot program to assess the feasibility of establishing 

a professional development program for judge advocates to ensure sufficient experience among 

counsel to prosecute and defend complex cases.

9

Introduction I.

During the first two years of its tenure, the Judicial Proceedings Panel (JPP) has had the opportunity 

to hear from numerous officials and experts in the military Services about legislation, policies, and 

practices relating to sexual assault litigation.1 This information has been extremely valuable and has 

informed the JPP’s findings and recommendations on a number of topics. However, in order to assess 

how these laws and policies are working in practice, the JPP determined that there would be value in 

conducting site visits to military installations to hear the opinions of those responsible for carrying 

them out. 

The JPP tasked the JPP Subcommittee2 with conducting these installation site visits. From July through 

September 2016, members of the Subcommittee visited military installations throughout the United 

States and Asia. They spoke to more than 280 individuals representing 25 military installations from 

all of the Services who are involved in investigating, litigating, and supporting sexual assault cases 

in the military.3 These individuals spoke without attribution so that the Subcommittee could gain an 

unfiltered, candid assessment of how changes in sexual assault laws and policies have affected the 

military justice system. On the basis of information from these site visits, the Subcommittee elected 

to issue several reports on different topics. The Subcommittee issued its first report to the JPP—the 

Report on Military Defense Counsel Resources and Experience in Sexual Assault Cases—on December 

9, 2016.4

In its report on defense resources and experience, the JPP Subcommittee detailed information 

gathered from site visits and other sources in four areas: (1) defense investigators, (2) defense office 

resources and staffing, (3) defense requests for and funding of experts, and (4) defense counsel 

experience. The Subcommittee made recommendations in each of these areas. In this report, the 

JPP adopts the information presented by the Subcommittee, which is summarized here; provides 

additional information gathered from Service responses to a JPP request for information; and adopts 

the Subcommittee’s recommendations, with modifications. In deliberating on and adopting the 

Subcommittee’s report, the JPP notes the vast experience of the Subcommittee members in litigation of 

sexual assault cases, both in the military and civilian communities.

1 See Appendix A: Judicial Proceedings Panel Authorizing Statutes and Charter.

2 See Appendix B: Judicial Proceedings Panel Committee and Subcommittee Member Biographies.

3 See Appendix C: List of Installation Site Visits and Subcommittee Members in Attendance.

4 Subcommittee Report to the Judicial Proceedings Panel on Military Defense Counsel Resources and Experience in Sexual

Assault Cases (December 2016) [hereinafter Subcommittee Report], Appendix D, available at http://jpp.whs.mil/Public/

docs/08-Panel_Reports/JPP_SubcommReport_DefResources _Final_ 20161208.pdf.

I. Introduction

11

II. Defense Investigators

A. Site Visit Information. As noted in the JPP Subcommittee’s report on this subject, defense counsel 

and trial counsel interviewed by the JPP Subcommittee on military installation site visits universally 

stated that defense requests for investigative support are routinely denied by convening authorities and 

military judges. Defense counsel also told the Subcommittee that junior paralegals, who are not trained 

investigators, do perform some investigative functions, but those activities reduce their availability to 

help prepare for trial.5 Defense counsel noted further that their ability to conduct these investigations 

is limited by their demanding trial schedules and the need to avoid a conflict of interest caused by 

becoming a potential witness in the case.6

While military defense counsel are able to obtain the investigative report produced by military 

criminal investigative organizations (MCIOs), current practices and policies regarding sexual assault 

investigations limit a defense counsel’s ability to develop the facts of the case. MCIO investigators told 

Subcommittee members during site visits that internal policies that discourage thorough questioning 

and follow-up interviews of victims, as well as the presence of special victims’ counsel/victims’ 

legal counsel (SVC/VLC) at every interview, have hampered their ability to interview the victim as 

thoroughly as they feel necessary. They noted that MCIO requests to the SVC/VLC for a follow-up 

interview with the victim are frequently denied, making it difficult for them to clarify potential 

inconsistencies in the victim’s initial statement.7

The Subcommittee report notes that counsel informed them on site visits that the MCIOs will not 

investigate leads at the defense counsel’s request. Defense and trial counsel told Subcommittee members 

of a factor compounding the problem: recent statutory changes have altered the Article 32 process 

from a pretrial investigation into a less robust preliminary hearing.8 Under the old process, victims 

were frequently required to appear and testify at the Article 32 hearing and undergo cross-examination 

from defense counsel. Under the new process, victims are no longer required to—and frequently 

do not—appear and testify at the Article 32 hearing.9 Trial and defense counsel interviewed by the 

Subcommittee during installation site visits referred to the new Article 32 process as a “paper drill,” 

because victims and other witnesses often do not testify, and the prosecution frequently submits only 

written statements or other documentary evidence for review.10 Under the new process, discovery for 

the defense is no longer one of the stated purposes for the Article 32 hearing.

5 Subcommittee Report, Appendix D at 2.

6 Subcommittee Report, Appendix D at 2.

7 Subcommittee Report to the Judicial Proceedings Panel on Sexual Assault Investigations in the Military (February 2017), 

available at http://jpp.whs.mil/Public/docs/08Panel_Reports/JPP_SubcommReport_Investigations_Final_20170224.pdf.

8 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014, Pub. L. 113-66, § 1702(a), 127 Stat. 672 (2013); National 

Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, Pub. L. 113-291, § 531(g), 128 Stat. 3292 (2014), makes this change 

effective for all preliminary hearings conducted on or after December 26, 2014.

9 Id.

10 Subcommittee Report, Appendix D at 2.
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REPORT ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

B. Additional Information. At the JPP’s public hearing in May 2016, the Services’ chiefs of defense 

services stated that defense requests for investigative support are rarely granted by the convening 

authority or military judge in sexual assault cases.11 In fact, the Marine Corps defense representative 

informed the JPP that she had never seen an investigator request granted in a sexual assault case, 

adding that it must be “very infrequent if it happens.”12 Similarly, the Army’s Chief of Trial Defense 

Services stated that only one in twelve requests for appointment of a defense investigator in sexual 

assault cases was granted.13 The Marine Corps presenter also noted that having defense counsel 

conduct all of their own investigative work means that counsel are taken away from working on 

their case.14 She pointed out—highlighting the disparity of resources between the prosecution and 

defense—that in the Marine Corps, the prosecution’s complex trial team has dedicated investigators.15

In addition, in the January 2017 JPP public meeting, a Marine Corps defense counsel told the JPP that 

not having defense investigators has led to trial delays.16

The Navy’s defense presenter at the JPP’s May 2016 public meeting reported that the Navy had 

hired eight defense investigators. As noted in the JPP Subcommittee’s report, the addition of these 

investigators has enabled defense counsel to focus on preparing their cases for trial and obtaining 

needed training.17 At the JPP’s January 2017 public meeting (which had a different subject), a Navy 

senior defense counsel provided an update on the Navy’s addition of defense investigators, stating 

that a defense investigator working with her had a “monumental” impact “in making up some of 

the differences that have been lost in the investigative process from the Article 32.”18 She told the JPP 

that the addition of defense investigators has resulted in cases going to trial more quickly and that the 

Navy could use more defense investigators than it currently employs. She also noted that the defense 

investigator’s work had resulted in acquittals at trial.19

In its June 2014 report, the Response Systems to Adult Sexual Assault Crimes Panel (RSP)—

the predecessor panel to the JPP—issued a recommendation that the Secretary of Defense direct 

the Services to provide independent, deployable defense investigators. In a December 15, 2014, 

11 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 241–42 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of Col Terri Zimmerman, U.S. Marine Corps, 

Officer-in-Charge (Reserve), Defense Services Agency; COL Daniel Brookhart, U.S. Army, Chief, Trial Defense Service; 

Col Daniel Higgins, U.S. Air Force, Chief, Trial Defense Division; and CDR Stephen Reyes, U.S. Navy, Defense Counsel 

Assistance Program).

12 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 241 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of Col Terri Zimmerman).

13 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 241–42 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of COL Daniel Brookhart).

14 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 198 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of Col Terri Zimmerman).

15 Id.

16 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 190 (Jan. 6, 2017) (testimony of Major James Argentina, U.S. Marine Corps, Senior 

Defense Counsel) (“Despite the [Response] Systems Panel recommendation that we have independent investigators, it is 

not currently an asset that we have at this time, which has effected, I think, some delay in the trial when we look at trying 

to invest[igate] the issues of 412 and 513 . . .”).

17 Subcommittee Report, Appendix D at 3.

18 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 214 (Jan. 6, 2017) (testimony of LCDR Rachel Trest, U.S. Navy, Senior Defense 

Counsel).

19 Id.
13

II. DEFENSE INVESTIGATORS

memorandum regarding implementation of the RSP recommendations,20 the Secretary of Defense 

referred this recommendation to the Joint Service Committee on Military Justice (JSC).21

The JPP sent a request for information (RFI) to the Services in December 2016 to determine the status 

of this RSP recommendation. To date only the Navy has implemented it, though the Army and Air 

Force indicate that they are monitoring the Navy’s program to assess its feasibility and success. The 

Marine Corps believes that its current mechanisms for the defense to obtain investigative support are 

adequate. The following table summarizes the Services’ responses.22

Navy

• The Navy implemented the RSP’s recommendation by hiring eight defense investigators. 

• The program is in its second year and has resulted in uncovering exculpatory evidence, 

contributing to acquittals and better dispositions for defense clients. 

• The Navy JAG Corps is assessing the program to ensure that it has the appropriate 

number of investigators and they are assigned appropriately.

Army

• Paralegals are trained to perform some defense investigative functions. 

• Counsel can request defense investigation support from the convening authority and the 

military judge.

• The Army is tracking the Navy’s defense investigator program to assess its feasibility.

Air Force • The Air Force is tracking implementation of the Navy’s defense investigator program to 

assess the best course of action.

Marine Corps

• Current mechanisms for the defense to obtain investigative support are adequate.

• The Manual for Courts-Martial provides procedures for the defense to request 

investigative support from the convening authority and the military judge.

• Defense offices are provided legal clerks who can coordinate and interview witnesses, 

take notes during meetings, and perform other similar functions.

• The accused may personally hire a defense investigator.

Coast Guard • The Coast Guard uses defense services provided by the Navy.

The Army and Marine Corps responses correctly note that the Manual for Courts-Martial provides 

procedures for the defense to request investigative assistance from the convening authority and military 

judge.23 But in practice, according to presentations made to the JPP by the heads of the Services’ 

defense organizations, as well as information received from numerous trial and defense counsel 

interviewed during installation site visits, such requests are rarely granted.

Also, while the Army and Marine Corps RFI responses state that defense paralegals and legal clerks 

can perform some of these investigative functions, defense counsel assert that doing so takes these 

individuals away from performing their primary duty of preparing to defend Service members accused 

of serious offenses at courts-martial. Moreover, low staffing levels at defense offices often make 

20 U.S. Dep’t of Def., Memorandum from the Secretary of Defense on Implementation of the Recommendations of the 

Response Systems to Adult Sexual Assault Crimes Panel (Dec. 15, 2014) [hereinafter SecDef RSP Implementation 

Memorandum].

21 The JSC is “an inter-agency, joint body of judge advocates and advisors, dedicated to ensuring the Manual for CourtsMartial (MCM) and Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) constitute a comprehensive body of criminal law and 

procedure,” Joint Service Committee on Military Justice, http://jsc.defense.gov/.

22 See Navy’s response to JPP Request for Information 160 [hereinafter JPP RFI 160] (Dec. 29, 2016); Army’s response to JPP 

RFI 160 (Jan. 4, 2017); Air Force’s response to JPP RFI 160 (Dec. 30, 2016); Marine Corps’ response to JPP RFI 160 (Jan. 

3, 2017); Coast Guard’s response to JPP RFI 160 (Jan. 3, 2017).

23 See Army’s response to JPP RFI 160 (Jan. 4, 2017); Marine Corps’ response to JPP RFI 160 (Jan. 3, 2017).
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REPORT ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

it impossible for paralegals and legal clerks to provide such assistance. A defense counsel at one 

installation informed the Subcommittee that an office at a large military installation with ten defense 

counsel had only one paralegal.24

C. JPP Assessment and Recommendation. It has been two and a half years since the RSP recommended 

that Service defense organizations be provided with independent, deployable defense investigators. 

This recommendation was based on information presented to the RSP from civilian defense counsel, 

who observed that many civilian public defender offices have defense investigators and consider them 

critical. The RSP also found that defense investigators are necessary to “correct an obvious imbalance 

of resources.”25

Since the RSP issued that report, statutory changes have been made to the Article 32 process. Under 

the new Article 32 pre-trial hearing process, witnesses, including the victim, testify at the Article 32 

hearing far less frequently and less evidence is presented, making it more difficult for defense counsel to 

gain access to important information regarding the government’s case.

These changes to the Article 32 process, as well as the limitations of MCIO victim interviews, 

suggest that the need for defense investigators is even greater now than it was when the RSP made its 

recommendation. Members of the JPP Subcommittee reported in the December 9, 2016, JPP public 

meeting that their sense from the site visits was that a lack of defense investigators and other resources, 

especially in light of changes to the Article 32 process, has negatively affected the quality of military 

justice in sexual assault cases.26

Recommendation 39: In order to ensure the fair administration of justice, all of the military 

Services provide independent and deployable defense investigators under their control in sufficient 

numbers so that every defense counsel has access to an investigator, as reasonably needed.

24 Subcommittee Report, Appendix D at 1.

25 Report of the Response Systems to Adult Sexual Assault Crimes Panel 38, 153 (June 2014) [hereinafter RSP Report], 

available at http://responsesystemspanel.whs.mil/Public/docs/Reports/00_Final/RSP_Report_Final_20140627.pdf.

26 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 68 (Dec. 9, 2016) (comments of Ms. Elizabeth Holtzman, JPP Chair and JPP 

Subcommittee member).
15

III. Defense Office Staffing and Resources

A. Site Visit Information. The JPP Subcommittee reported that it repeatedly heard from prosecutors 

and defense counsel at installation site visits that defense offices are understaffed and under-resourced. 

Many defense counsel stated that these deficiencies have made it difficult to manage their caseload, 

more than half of which is composed of sexual assault cases. As noted above, a defense counsel 

at a large installation reported having only one paralegal to assist ten defense counsel with case 

preparation.27

B. Additional Information. The Services’ defense leadership provided information on this and other 

topics to the JPP at its May 2016 public meeting. The Army’s chief of trial defense services told the 

Panel that in 2014, he had 154 authorized defense counsel billets and that number had since gone 

down to 144. Yet he was unable to fill even those billets, with only 135 counsel on hand at that time.28

Similarly, the Marine Corps defense representative at the May 2016 JPP public meeting stated that 

there was a disparity in resources between the defense and prosecution.29

In its June 2014 report, the RSP recommended that the Service Secretaries “ensure military defense 

counsel organizations are adequately resourced in funding resources and personnel, including defense 

supervisory personnel with training and experience comparable to their prosecution counterparts, and 

direct the Services assess whether that is the case.”30 In the Secretary of Defense’s December 15, 2014, 

memorandum regarding implementation of the RSP recommendations, this recommendation’s status 

was listed as “Approve” and it was referred to the Service Secretaries for implementation.31 The JPP’s 

December 2016 RFI to the Services inquired about the status of this recommendation. 

All of the Services stated that their senior-level defense counsel have training and experience 

comparable to or exceeding that of prosecutors. They also stated that resourcing of defense offices is 

comparable to that of the prosecution.32

C. JPP Assessment and Recommendation. The Secretary of Defense approved the RSP’s 

recommendation that defense offices be adequately resourced and staffed and forwarded it to the 

Service Secretaries for action. According to the recent Service responses to the RFI, all defense offices 

are adequately staffed and resourced. However, reports of defense counsel from the installation site 

visits and information presented to the JPP at its May 2016 public meeting suggest that understaffing 

and under-resourcing of defense offices continue to be a problem—especially for the Army and Marine 

Corps. 

27 Subcommittee Report, Appendix D at 1.

28 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 215 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of COL Daniel Brookhart).

29 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 196 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of Col Terri Zimmerman).

30 RSP Report at 38, 163–64.

31 SecDef RSP Implementation Memorandum.

32 See Army’s response to JPP RFI 160 (Jan. 4, 2017); Navy’s response to JPP RFI 160 (Dec. 29, 2016); Marine Corps’ 

response to JPP RFI 160 (Jan. 3, 2017); Air Force’s response to JPP RFI 160 (Dec. 30, 2016); Coast Guard’s response to 

JPP RFI 160 (Jan. 3, 2017).
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REPORT ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

The military has a great deal of experience in “doing more with less.” However, as defense counsel 

informed Subcommittee members, sexual assault cases have grown increasingly complex, require a lot 

of resources to defend, and make up a much larger percentage of their caseload than in previous years. 

As noted by one Subcommittee member—a retired Marine Corps general officer—for many years 

military defense counsel have complained about a lack of resources and staffing; but as resources have 

diminished over the years, the defense organizations have gotten used to doing without them. On the 

basis both of his own experience and of information gathered from prosecutors and defense counsel 

during site visits, he strongly recommended additional resources and staffing for defense organizations 

in order to continue providing military members with world-class defense services.33

Recommendation 40: The military Services immediately review Service defense organizations’ 

staffing—defense counsel, paralegals, highly qualified experts, and administrative support 

personnel—and augment current levels in order to alleviate the reported understaffing. The 

Secretary of Defense should direct an independent audit of defense staffing across all military 

Services to determine the optimal level of staffing for the Service defense organizations in the 

long term and authorize temporary details from one Service to another to ensure expeditious 

disposition of allegations. Organizations that have conducted similar kinds of assessments of 

public defender resources in various civilian jurisdictions may be of assistance in conducting this 

audit.

The JPP’s recommendation on this topic was informed by the Subcommittee’s presentation to the JPP 

discussing the reliance in the civilian sector on organizations that conduct audits of public defender 

offices to determine appropriate levels of staffing and resources.34

33 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 40–44 (Dec. 9, 2016) (testimony of BGen (Ret.) James Schwenk, JPP Subcommittee 

member).

34 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 115–16 (Dec. 9, 2016) (testimony of BGen (Ret.) James Schwenk, and Ms. Lisa Friel, 

JPP Subcommittee members).
17

IV. Defense Expert Requests and Funding

A. Site Visit Information. During the installation site visits, JPP Subcommittee members heard 

numerous complaints from defense counsel from all Services about their inability to get approval and 

funding for defense expert witnesses and consultants in sexual assault cases. In the military, defense 

counsel must request approval and funding for expert witnesses and consultants, prior to referral of 

charges, from the convening authority.35 These requests must be accompanied by a statement providing 

reasons why the expert is necessary and estimating the cost of the expert.36 If the convening authority 

denies the request, the defense counsel can make it again to the military judge following referral of 

charges. The military judge will determine whether the expert’s testimony is “relevant and necessary,” 

and whether the government has or will provide a “suitable substitute.”37

Defense counsel told Subcommittee members that their requests for experts are frequently denied or, 

after approval, they are provided with a substitute that is inadequate to the task.38 This assertion was 

corroborated by a number of prosecutors interviewed on site visits. Counsel pointed out that when 

experts are granted, they are often made available shortly before the trial date, too late to help develop 

a defense theory of the case or prepare the case.39 In addition, the process of asking the convening 

authority to approve and fund a defense expert often forces the defense to reveal their trial strategy 

to the government.40 In contrast, trial counsel are not similarly disadvantaged: they can consult with 

and hire experts early in the trial process, without being forced to reveal their theory of the case to the 

defense.

B. Additional Information. In its June 2014 report, the RSP found that public defender offices often 

maintain their own budgets to cover expert witnesses and consultants or can request experts through 

a trial judge who manages the budget.41 They also pointed out that federal public defenders have their 

own funding to pay for experts.42 In addition, the JPP Subcommittee noted that defense counsel in 

civilian judicial systems are able to hire confidential consulting experts and can keep this information 

35 Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2016 ed.), Rule for Court-Martial [hereinafter R.C.M.] 703(d); Article 46 of 

the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) states that “trial counsel, the defense counsel, and the court-martial shall 

have equal opportunity to obtain witnesses and other evidence[.]” 10 U.S.C. § 846 (UCMJ, art. 46).

36 Id.

37 Id. The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces has held that an “adequate substitute” must have qualifications 

“reasonably similar” to those of the government’s expert. United States v. Warner, 62 M.J. 114, 119 (C.A.A.F. 2005). The 

court stated: “The absence of such parity opens the military justice system to abuse, because the Government in general, 

and—as this case demonstrates—the trial counsel in particular, may play key roles in securing defense experts.” The 

appellant’s brief in this case analogizes this arrangement to “permitting a Major League baseball manager to choose the 

opposing pitcher in the final game of the World Series.” Id. at 120.

38 Subcommittee Report, Appendix D at 6.

39 Id.

40 R.C.M. 703(d); Subcommittee Report, Appendix D at 6.

41 RSP Report at 163.

42 Id.
18

REPORT ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

from the prosecution unless they elect to use the expert at trial, enabling the defense to get a candid 

assessment from the expert without it being used against their client.43

C. JPP Assessment and Recommendation. Both trial and defense counsel informed the Subcommittee of 

the difficulties and disparities involved with defense requests for experts. These requests are reportedly 

often denied by the convening authority, and when they are granted the defense is often given an 

expert not of their choosing who may not be qualified to speak to the issues at hand. Because military 

judges can’t rule on such requests until after referral of charges—at the point when trial dates are being 

agreed on—the defense will not have the benefit of a needed expert consultant prior to and during the 

Article 32 preliminary hearing, when the consultant’s expertise may be of critical value to developing a 

defense and to helping the defense counsel understand the complexities of the issues that tend to arise 

in sexual assault cases. Furthermore, military defense counsel, like their civilian counterparts, should 

not be required to reveal their theory of defense or defense strategies to the government so early in the 

process before trial, unless otherwise required by law. Providing the Service defense organizations their 

own source of expert funding would alleviate this problem and put the burden on defense leadership to 

determine how and where this budget will be spent. 

Recommendation 41: The Secretary of Defense direct the Joint Service Committee on Military 

Justice to draft appropriate rules and measures, as necessary, to vest defense expert approval 

authority and expenditure funding in the Service defense organizations.

43 Subcommittee Report, Appendix D at 7.
19

V. Defense Counsel Staffing and Experience Levels

A. Site Visit Information. Defense counsel told the Subcommittee on site visits that they generally 

receive adequate training. However, their comments did suggest problems in the experience level 

of defense counsel and the lack of uniformity among the Services. The Navy and Air Force require 

attorneys to have some litigation and military justice experience prior to being placed in a defense 

counsel billet, but the Army and Marine Corps do not have this prerequisite and allow first-tour 

judge advocates to serve as defense counsel in sexual assault cases.44 Several defense counsel told 

Subcommittee members that in the first or second contested trial of their career, they served as second 

chair on a rape case; one defense counsel reported having served as lead counsel in a sexual assault 

case in his third trial.45 Though these experiences were not common, they were overwhelming and 

uncomfortable for those counsel who had them. All defense counsel recommended against assigning 

brand-new attorneys to defense counsel positions.46

B. Additional Information. In its June 2014 report, the RSP reviewed this issue and recommended 

that only defense counsel with prior litigation experience serve as lead defense counsel in a sexual 

assault case. It also recommended a minimum tour length for defense counsel of two years.47 In 

the Secretary of Defense’s December 15, 2014 memorandum regarding implementation of the 

RSP recommendations, this recommendation was approved in part, and referred to the Services 

for further study.48 The recommendation was amended by the Department of Defense so that only 

counsel with prior litigation experience could serve as trial counsel and defense counsel in cases 

involving penetrative sexual offenses, and the minimum tour length was set at two years, to the extent 

practicable.49

In response to the JPP’s RFIs, the Army stated that it considers litigation experience and the complexity 

of the case when assigning counsel, with inexperienced defense counsel typically being assigned to 

handle less complex cases and to assist more experienced counsel. According to the Army, its regional 

and senior defense counsel have the experience necessary to litigate complex cases and to help train 

more junior counsel.50 The Marine Corps also reported that it takes many factors into account when 

assigning defense counsel, such as the complexity of the case and the counsel’s experience level. For 

complex cases, the senior defense counsel must consult with the regional defense counsel to ensure 

that the right counsel is detailed to the case.51 The Navy and Air Force stated that typically only 

44 Per a memorandum of agreement, the U.S. Coast Guard utilizes Navy defense counsel to defend their members; RSP 

Report at 159–60.

45 Subcommittee Report, Appendix D at 8.

46 Id.

47 RSP Report at 39, 160–61.

48 SecDef RSP Implementation Memorandum.

49 Id.

50 Army’s response to JPP RFI 160 (Jan. 4, 2017).

51 Marine Corps’ response to JPP RFI 160 (Jan. 3, 2017).
20

REPORT ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

experienced counsel are assigned to defense counsel billets, with more senior counsel serving as lead 

defense counsel in penetrative sexual assault cases.52

With the exception of the Marine Corps, the other Services reported that defense counsel assignments 

are usually two years or more.53 The Marine Corps stated that defense counsel tour lengths are at least 

18 months, which it considers adequate.54

In the May 2016 JPP public meeting, the Army’s chief of trial defense services told the Panel that 20% 

of attorneys assigned to a defense counsel position have no prior experience.55 He stated that while 

they try to avoid assigning a new defense counsel to a sexual assault case, the realities of their staffing 

sometimes force these assignments, though the counsel is able to consult with more senior defense 

counsel.56 He also noted that the accused’s counsel in a sexual assault case may have less experience 

than the victim’s counsel.57 Similarly, a leader in the Marine Corps’ defense organization told the JPP 

that the vast majority of defense counsel are serving in their first tour and are right out of law school.58

She explained that they try to make up for this lack of experience through training and through 

supervision by more experienced counsel.59 She added that defense counsel typically serve in the 

position for only 12 to 14 months before being reassigned.60

A provision in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (FY17 NDAA) requires 

the Services to ensure that trial and defense counsel detailed to a court-martial have sufficient 

experience and knowledge to try the case and requires the Services to have a professional development 

process to ensure successful prosecution and defense of courts-martial.61 As part of that process, 

the Services must use skill identifiers or experience designators for identifying judge advocates with 

military justice experience and skill so that they can oversee less experienced counsel.62 The provision 

also requires the Services to carry out a five-year pilot program to assess the feasibility of establishing 

a professional development program that will lead to judge advocates with military justice expertise 

prosecuting and defending complex courts-martial cases.63

C. JPP Assessment and Recommendation. While it appears that the Services generally assign more 

experienced defense counsel to complex cases, such as penetrative sexual assault cases, site visit 

feedback indicates that in at least some instances, inexperienced, first-tour judge advocates serve as 

52 Navy’s response to JPP RFI 160 (Dec. 29, 2016); Air Force’s response to JPP RFI 160 (Dec. 30, 2016).

53 Army’s response to JPP RFI 160 (Jan. 4, 2017); Navy’s response to JPP RFI 160 (Dec. 29, 2016); Air Force’s response to 

JPP RFI 160 (Dec. 30, 2016); Coast Guard’s response to JPP RFI 160 (Jan. 3, 2017).

54 Marine Corps’ response to JPP RFI 160 (Jan. 3, 2017).

55 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 165 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of COL Daniel Brookhart).

56 Id.

57 Id.

58 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 185 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of Col Terri Zimmerman).

59 Id.

60 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 189 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of Col Terri Zimmerman).

61 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, Pub. L. 114-328, § 542, 130 Stat. 2000 (2016), Effective 

prosecution and defense in courts-martial and pilot programs on professional military justice development for judge 

advocates.

62 Id.

63 Id.
21

V. DEFENSE COUNSEL STAFFING AND EXPERIENCE LEVELS

defense counsel in these types of cases. First-tour judge advocates with just two prior litigated courtsmartial as their only litigation or military justice experience should not serve as lead defense counsel 

in a sexual assault case. Counsel should have the opportunity to develop their litigation skills in less 

complex cases and under the supervision of more experienced counsel. The provision in the FY17 

NDAA pertaining to trial and defense counsel experience, though lacking in details, apparently seeks 

to achieve the goal of having the most experienced military trial and defense counsel litigating the most 

serious sexual assault cases. It should not be left to chance and circumstance whether an accused in a 

sexual assault case—facing the possibility of a punitive discharge and years in confinement—gets the 

benefit of experienced counsel. 

In order for defense counsel to build core skills and necessary experience, it is important that they have 

the opportunity to serve in the position for at least two years. The Panel notes that while the Marine 

Corps’ RFI response states that 18 months in the position is sufficient, a leader in the Marine Corps 

defense community told the JPP in its May 2016 public meeting that defense counsel typically serve in 

the position for only 12 to 14 months. This is simply not sufficient time to enable defense counsel to 

gain the necessary experience, as defense counsel on site visits attested.

Recommendation 42: The military Services permit only defense counsel with prior military justice 

or civilian criminal litigation experience to serve as lead defense counsel in sexual assault cases.

The military Services should develop a formal process, using objective and subjective criteria, 

to determine when a defense counsel is qualified to serve as a lead defense counsel in a sexual 

assault case. In addition, the military Services should set assignment policies that provide defense 

counsel two or more consecutive years of experience in the role, to the maximum extent feasible 

at the same location. Exceptions to this policy should be personally approved, on a case-by-case 

basis, by the Service Judge Advocate General or Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant of the 

Marine Corps.

23

Judicial Proceedings Panel 

Authorizing Statutes and Charter

APPENDIX A:

NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013

SECTION 576. INDEPENDENT REVIEWS AND ASSESSMENTS OF UNIFORM 

CODE OF MILITARY JUSTICE AND JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS OF SEXUAL 

ASSAULT CASES.

(a) INDEPENDENT REVIEWS AND ASSESSMENTS REQUIRED.—

(2) JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS SINCE FISCAL YEAR 2012 AMENDMENTS.— The Secretary 

of Defense shall establish a panel to conduct an independent review and assessment of judicial 

proceedings conducted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice involving adult sexual 

assault and related offenses since the amendments made to the Uniform Code of Military Justice 

by section 541 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Public Law 

112–81; 125 Stat. 1404) for the purpose of developing recommendations for improvements to 

such proceedings.

(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF INDEPENDENT REVIEW PANELS. 

(1) COMPOSITION.

(B)JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL.—The panel required by subsection (a)(2) shall be 

appointed by the Secretary of Defense and consist of five members, two of whom must have 

also served on the panel established under subsection (a)(1).

(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The members of each panel shall be selected from among private United 

States citizens who collectively possess expertise in military law, civilian law, the investigation, 

prosecution, and adjudication of sexual assaults in State and Federal criminal courts, victim 

advocacy, treatment for victims, military justice, the organization and missions of the Armed 

Forces, and offenses relating to rape, sexual assault, and other adult sexual assault crimes.

(3) CHAIR.—The chair of each panel shall be appointed by the Secretary of Defense from among 

the members of the panel.

(4) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.—Members shall be appointed for the life of the 

panel. Any vacancy in a panel shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.

(5) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENTS.—

(B) JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL.—All original appointments to the panel required by 

subsection (a)(2) shall be made before the termination date of the panel established under 

subsection (a)(1), but no later than 30 days before the termination date.

I. Introduction
24

REPORT ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

(6) MEETINGS.—A panel shall meet at the call of the chair.

(7) FIRST MEETING.—The chair shall call the first meeting of a panel not later than 60 days after 

the date of the appointment of all the members of the panel.

(c) REPORTS AND DURATION.—

(2) JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL.—

(A)FIRST REPORT.—The panel established under subsection (a)(2) shall submit a first report, 

including any proposals for legislative or administrative changes the panel considers 

appropriate, to the Secretary of Defense and the Committees on Armed Services of the 

Senate and the House of Representatives not later than 180 days after the first meeting of 

the panel.

(B) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS.—The panel established under subsection (a)(2) shall submit 

subsequent reports during fiscal years 2014 through 2017.

(C)TERMINATION.—The panel established under subsection (a)(2) shall terminate on 

September 30, 2017.

(d) DUTIES OF PANELS.—

(2) JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL.—The panel required by subsection (a)(2) shall perform 

the following duties:

(A)Assess and make recommendations for improvements in the implementation of the reforms 

to the offenses relating to rape, sexual assault, and other sexual misconduct under the 

Uniform Code of Military Justice that were enacted by section 541 of the National Defense 

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Public Law 112– 81; 125 Stat. 1404).

(B) Review and evaluate current trends in response to sexual assault crimes whether by courtsmartial proceedings, non-judicial punishment and administrative actions, including the 

number of punishments by type, and the consistency and appropriateness of the decisions, 

punishments, and administrative actions based on the facts of individual cases.

(C)Identify any trends in punishments rendered by military courts, including general, special, 

and summary courts-martial, in response to sexual assault, including the number of 

punishments by type, and the consistency of the punishments, based on the facts of each 

case compared with the punishments rendered by Federal and State criminal courts.

(D)Review and evaluate court-martial convictions for sexual assault in the year covered by 

the most-recent report required by subsection (c)(2) and the number and description of 

instances when punishments were reduced or set aside upon appeal and the instances in 

which the defendant appealed following a plea agreement, if such information is available.

(E) Review and assess those instances in which prior sexual conduct of the alleged victim was 

considered in a proceeding under section 832 of title 10, United States Code (article 32 of 

the Uniform Code of Military Justice), and any instances in which prior sexual conduct was 

determined to be inadmissible.
25

APPENDIX A: JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL AUTHORIZING STATUTES AND CHARTER

(F) Review and assess those instances in which evidence of prior sexual conduct of the alleged 

victim was introduced by the defense in a court-martial and what impact that evidence had 

on the case.

(G)Building on the data compiled as a result of paragraph (1)(D), assess the trends in the 

training and experience levels of military defense and trial counsel in adult sexual assault 

cases and the impact of those trends in the prosecution and adjudication of such cases.

(H)Monitor trends in the development, utilization and effectiveness of the special victims 

capabilities required by section 573 of this Act.

(I) Monitor the implementation of the April 20, 2012, Secretary of Defense policy 

memorandum regarding withholding initial disposition authority under the Uniform Code 

of Military Justice in certain sexual assault cases.

(J) Consider such other matters and materials as the panel considers appropriate for purposes 

of the reports.

(3) UTILIZATION OF OTHER STUDIES.—In conducting reviews and assessments and preparing 

reports, a panel may review, and incorporate as appropriate, the data and findings of applicable 

ongoing and completed studies.

(e) AUTHORITY OF PANELS.—

(1) HEARINGS.—A panel may hold such hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take such 

testimony, and receive such evidence as the panel considers appropriate to carry out its duties 

under this section.

(2) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon request by the chair of a panel, a 

department or agency of the Federal Government shall provide information that the panel 

considers necessary to carry out its duties under this section.

(f) PERSONNEL MATTERS.—

(1) PAY OF MEMBERS.—Members of a panel shall serve without pay by reason of their work on 

the panel.

(2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of a panel shall be allowed travel expenses, including per 

diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter I 

of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from their homes or regular places of 

business in the performance or services for the panel. 

(3) STAFFING AND RESOURCES.—The Secretary of Defense shall provide staffing and resources 

to support the panels, except that the Secretary may not assign primary responsibility for such 

staffing and resources to the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.
26

REPORT ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2014

SEC. 1731. INDEPENDENT REVIEWS AND ASSESSMENTS OF UNIFORM CODE 

OF MILITARY JUSTICE AND JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT 

CASES.

(b) ADDITIONAL DUTIES FOR JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL.—

(1) ADDITIONAL ASSESSMENTS SPECIFIED.—The independent panel established by 

the Secretary of Defense under subsection (a)(2) of section 576 of the National Defense 

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (Public Law 112–239; 126 Stat. 1758), known as the 

“judicial proceedings panel”, shall conduct the following:

(A)An assessment of the likely consequences of amending the definition of rape and sexual 

assault under section 920 of title 10, United States Code (article 120 of the Uniform Code 

of Military Justice), to expressly cover a situation in which a person subject to chapter 47 

of title 10, United States Code (the Uniform Code of Military Justice), commits a sexual act 

upon another person by abusing one’s position in the chain of command of the other person 

to gain access to or coerce the other person.

(B) An assessment of the implementation and effect of section 1044e of title 10, United States 

Code, as added by section 1716, and make such recommendations for modification of such 

section 1044e as the judicial proceedings panel considers appropriate.

(C)An assessment of the implementation and effect of the mandatory minimum sentences 

established by section 856(b) of title 10, United States Code (article 56(b) of the Uniform 

Code of Military Justice), as added by section 1705, and the appropriateness of statutorily 

mandated minimum sentencing provisions for additional offenses under chapter 47 of title 

10, United States Code (the Uniform Code of Military Justice).

(D)An assessment of the adequacy of the provision of compensation and restitution for victims 

of offenses under chapter 47 of title 10, United States Code (the Uniform Code of Military 

Justice), and develop recommendations on expanding such compensation and restitution, 

including consideration of the options as follows:

(i) Providing the forfeited wages of incarcerated members of the Armed Forces to victims of 

offenses as compensation.

(ii) Including bodily harm among the injuries meriting compensation for redress under 

section 939 of title 10, United States Code (article 139 of the Uniform Code of Military 

Justice).

(iii)Requiring restitution by members of the Armed Forces to victims of their offenses upon 

the direction of a court-martial.

(2) SUBMISSION OF RESULTS.—The judicial proceedings panel shall include the results of the 

assessments required by paragraph (1) in one of the reports required by subsection (c)(2)(B) of 

section 576 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013.
27

APPENDIX A: JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL AUTHORIZING STATUTES AND CHARTER

NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2015

SEC. 545. ADDITIONAL DUTIES FOR JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL.

(a) ADDITIONAL DUTIES IMPOSED.—The independent panel established by the Secretary of 

Defense under section 576(a)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 

(Public Law 112–239; 126 Stat. 1758), known as the “judicial proceedings panel”, shall perform 

the following additional duties:

(1) Conduct a review and assessment regarding the impact of the use of any mental health records 

of the victim of an offense under chapter 47 of title 10, United States Code (the Uniform Code 

of Military Justice), by the accused during the preliminary hearing conducted under section 

832 of such title (article 32 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice), and during court-martial 

proceedings, as compared to the use of similar records in civilian criminal legal proceedings.

(2) Conduct a review and assessment regarding the establishment of a privilege under the Military 

Rules of Evidence against the disclosure of communications between—

(A)users of and personnel staffing the Department of Defense Safe Helpline; and

(B) users of and personnel staffing of the 26 Department of Defense Safe Help Room.

(b) SUBMISSION OF RESULTS.—The judicial proceedings panel shall include the results of the 

reviews and assessments conducted under subsection (a) in one of the reports required by section 

576(c)(2)(B) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (Public Law 112–239; 

126 Stat. 1760).

SEC. 546. DEFENSE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATION, 

PROSECUTION, AND DEFENSE OF SEXUAL ASSAULT IN THE ARMED FORCES

(f) DUE DATE FOR ANNUAL REPORT OF JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL – Section 576(c)(2)

(B) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (Public Law 112-239; 126 Stat. 

1760) is amended by inserting “annually thereafter” after “reports”.
28

REPORT ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

CHARTER

Judicial Proceedings Since Fiscal Year 2012 Amendments Panel

1

1. Committee’s Official Designation: The committee shall be known as the Judicial

Proceedings Since Fiscal Year 2012 Amendments Panel (“the Judicial Proceedings 

Panel”). 

2. Authority: The Secretary of Defense, as required by section 576(a)(2) of the National 

Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (“the FY 2013 NDAA”) (Public Law 

112-239), as modified by section 1731(b) of the National Defense Authorization Act for 

Fiscal Year 2014 (“the FY 2014 NDAA”) (Public Law 113-66), and in accordance with 

the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (FACA) (5 U.S.C., Appendix, as amended) 

and 41 C.F.R. § 102-3.50(a), established the Judicial Proceedings Panel. 

3. Objectives and Scope of Activities: The Judicial Proceedings Panel will conduct an 

independent review and assessment of judicial proceedings conducted under the Uniform 

Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) involving adult sexual assault and related offenses since 

the amendments made to the UCMJ by section 541 of the National Defense Authorization 

Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (“the FY 2012 NDAA”) (Public Law 112-81) for the purpose of 

developing recommendations for improvements to such proceedings. 

4. Description of Duties: Section 576(d)(2) directs the Judicial Proceedings Panel to perform 

the following duties, with additional duties as added by section 1731(b)(1) of the FY 2014 

NDAA: 

a. Assess and make recommendations for improvements in the implementation of the 

reforms to the offenses relating to rape, sexual assault, and other sexual misconduct 

under the UCMJ that were enacted by section 541 of the FY 2012 NDAA. 

b. Review and evaluate current trends in response to sexual assault crimes whether by 

courts-martial proceedings, non-judicial punishment and administrative actions, 

including the number of punishments by type, and the consistency and 

appropriateness of the decisions, punishments, and administrative actions based on 

the facts of individual cases. 

c. Identify any trends in punishments rendered by military courts, including general, 

special, and summary courts-martial, in response to sexual assault, including the 

number of punishments by type, and the consistency of the punishments, based on the 

facts of each case compared with the punishments rendered by Federal and State 

criminal courts. 

d. Review and evaluate court-martial convictions for sexual assault in the year covered 

by the most-recent report of the Judicial Proceedings Panel and the number and 

description of instances when punishments were reduced or set aside upon appeal and 

the instances in which the defendant appealed following a plea agreement, if such 

information is available. 

e. Review and assess those instances in which prior sexual conduct of the alleged victim 

was considered in a proceeding under section 832 of title 10, United States Code 

(article 32 of the UCMJ), and any instances in which prior sexual conduct was 

determined to be inadmissible.
29

APPENDIX A: JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL AUTHORIZING STATUTES AND CHARTER

CHARTER

Judicial Proceedings Since Fiscal Year 2012 Amendments Panel

2

f. Review and assess those instances in which evidence of prior sexual conduct of the 

alleged victim was introduced by the defense in a court-martial and what impact that 

evidence had on the case.

g. Building on the data compiled as a result of the assessment conducted by the 

Response Systems to Adult Sexual Assault Crimes Panel (“the Response Systems 

Panel”), a Federal advisory committee established pursuant to section 576(a)(1) of the 

FY 2013 NDAA and in accordance with FACA, of the training level of military 

defense and trial counsel, assess the trends in the training and experience levels of 

military defense and trial counsel in adult sexual assault cases and the impact of those 

trends in the prosecution and adjudication of such cases.

h. Monitor trends in the development, utilization and effectiveness of the special victims 

capabilities required by Section 573 of the FY 2013 NDAA. 

i. Monitor the implementation of the April 20, 2012, Secretary of Defense policy 

memorandum regarding withholding initial disposition authority under the UCMJ in 

certain sexual assault cases. 

j. Assess the likely consequences of amending the definition of rape and sexual assault 

under section 920 of title 10, United States Code (article 120 of the UCMJ), to 

expressly cover a situation in which a person subject to the UCMJ commits a sexual 

act upon another person by abusing one’s position in the chain of command of the 

other person to gain access to or coerce the other person.

k. Assess the implementation and effect of the Special Victim’s Counsel for victims of 

sex-related offenses established by the Secretary of Defense on August 14, 2013 and 

codified in Section 1044e of title 10, United States Code, by the enactment of Section 

1716 of the FY 2014 NDAA on December 26, 2013. The panel shall make such 

recommendations for modifications of section 1044e as the Judicial Proceedings 

Panel considers appropriate.

l. Assess the implementation and effect of the mandatory minimum sentences 

established by section 856(b) of title 10, United States Code (article 56(b) of the 

UCMJ), as added by section 1705 of the FY 2014 NDAA, which requires at a 

minimum, that upon a finding of guilt for the offenses of rape, sexual assault, rape 

and sexual assault of a child, forcible sodomy, and attempts to commit such acts, the 

punishment include dismissal or dishonorable discharge, except as provided for by 

Article 60 of the UCMJ, and the appropriateness of statutorily mandated minimum 

sentencing provisions for additional offenses under chapter 47 of title 10, United 

States Code (the UCMJ). 

m. Assess the adequacy of the provision of compensation and restitution for victims of 

offenses under chapter 47 of title 10, United States Code (the UCMJ), and develop

recommendations on expanding such compensation and restitution, including 

consideration of the options as follows:

i. Providing the forfeited wages of incarcerated members of the Armed 

Forces to victims of offenses as compensation.

ii. Including bodily harm among the injuries meriting compensation for

redress under section 939 of title 10, United States Code (article 139 of the

UCMJ). 
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3

iii. Requiring restitution by members of the Armed Forces to victims of their

offenses upon the direction of a court-martial.

n. Consider such other matters and materials as the Judicial Proceedings Panel considers 

appropriate for purposes of the reports. 

In conducting reviews and assessments and preparing reports, the Judicial Proceedings 

Panel may review, and incorporate as appropriate, the data and findings of applicable 

ongoing and completed studies. The Judicial Proceedings Panel may hold such hearings, 

sit and act at such times and places, take such testimony, and receive such evidence as it

considers appropriate to carry out its duties. Upon request by the Chair of the Judicial 

Proceedings Panel, a department or agency of the Federal Government shall provide 

information that the Judicial Proceedings Panel considers necessary to carry out its duties. 

5. Agency or Official to Whom the Committee Reports: The Judicial Proceedings Panel

shall provide its first report, including any proposals for legislative or administrative 

changes it considers appropriate, to the Secretary of Defense through the Department of 

Defense (DoD) General Counsel (GC), and the Committees on Armed Services of the 

Senate and the House of Representatives, not later than 180 days after its first meeting. 

The Judicial Proceedings Panel shall submit subsequent reports during fiscal years 2014 

through 2017. 

6. Support: The DoD, through the DoD Office of General Counsel (DoD OGC), the 

Washington Headquarters Services, and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for 

Personnel and Readiness, shall provide staffing and resources as deemed necessary for the 

performance of the Judicial Proceedings Panel’s functions, and shall ensure compliance 

with the requirements of the FACA, the Government in the Sunshine Act of 1976 (“the 

Sunshine Act”) (5 U.S.C. § 552b, as amended), governing federal statutes and regulations,

and established DoD policies and procedures. Primary responsibility for such staffing and 

resourcing may not be assigned to the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office. 

7. Estimated Annual Operating Costs and Staff Years: The estimated annual operating cost, 

to include travel, meetings, and contract support, is approximately $4,000,000 and 15 fulltime equivalents.

8. Designated Federal Officer: The Designated Federal Officer (DFO), pursuant to DoD 

policy, shall be a full-time or permanent part-time DoD employee, and shall be appointed 

in accordance with governing DoD policies and procedures. 

In addition, the Judicial Proceedings Panel’s DFO is required to be in attendance at all

meetings of the Panel and its subcommittees for the entire duration of each and every 

meeting. However, in the absence of the DFO, the Alternate DFO, duly appointed to the

Judicial Proceedings Panel according to DoD policies and procedures, shall attend the 

entire duration of the Judicial Proceedings Panel and any subcommittee meetings.
31

APPENDIX A: JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL AUTHORIZING STATUTES AND CHARTER

CHARTER

Judicial Proceedings Since Fiscal Year 2012 Amendments Panel

4

The DFO, or the Alternate DFO, shall approve all of the meetings of the Judicial 

Proceedings Panel as called by the Chair; shall call all meetings of its subcommittees, in 

coordination with the Chair; prepare and approve all meeting agendas for the Judicial 

Proceedings Panel and any subcommittees; and adjourn any meeting when the DFO or the 

Alternate DFO determines adjournment to be in the public’s interest or required by 

governing regulations or DoD policies and procedures.

9. Estimated Number and Frequency of Meetings: Consistent with sections 576(b)(6) and 

(7) of the FY 2013 NDAA, the Judicial Proceedings Panel shall meet at the call of the 

Chair, and the Chair shall call the first meeting of the Judicial Proceedings Panel not later 

than 60 days after the date of the appointment of all the members of the Judicial 

Proceedings Panel. The Judicial Proceedings Panel shall meet at a minimum once per 

year. 

10. Duration: The Judicial Proceedings Panel shall remain in effect until terminated, as 

provided for and as required by section 576(c)(2)(C) of the FY 2013 NDAA; however, the 

charter is subject to renewal every two years.

11. Termination: According to section 576(c)(2)(C) of the FY 2013 NDAA, the Judicial 

Proceedings Panel shall terminate on September 30, 2017. 

12. Membership and Designation: Pursuant to sections 576(b)(1)(B) and (b)(2), the Judicial 

Proceedings Panel shall be appointed by the Secretary of Defense and consist of five 

members, two of whom must have served on the Response Systems Panel. 

The members shall be selected from among private United States citizens who collectively 

possess expertise in military law, civilian law, the investigation, prosecution, and 

adjudication of sexual assaults in State and Federal criminal courts, victim advocacy, 

treatment for victims, military justice, the organization and missions of the Armed Force, 

and offenses relating to rape, sexual assault, and other adult sexual assault crimes. The 

Chair shall be appointed by the Secretary of Defense from among the members of the 

Judicial Proceedings Panel. 

Members shall be appointed for the life of the Judicial Proceedings Panel, subject to 

annual renewals. Any vacancy on the Judicial Proceedings Panel shall be filled in the 

same manner as the original appointment. Panel members shall be appointed as experts or 

consultants pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 3109 to serve as special government employee (SGE) 

members. With the exception of reimbursement of official travel and per diem, Judicial 

Proceedings Panel members shall serve without compensation. 

The DoD GC, according to DoD policies and procedures, may select experts and 

consultants as subject matter experts under the authority of 5 U.S.C. § 3109 to advise the 

Judicial Proceedings Panel or its subcommittees; these individuals do not count toward the 

Judicial Proceedings Panel’s total membership nor do they have voting privileges. In 

addition, these subject matter experts shall not participate in any deliberations dealing with 
32

REPORT ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

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5

the substantive matters before the Judicial Proceedings Panel or its subcommittees nor 

shall they participate in any voting.

13. Subcommittees: The Department, when necessary and consistent with the Judicial 

Proceedings Panel’s mission and DoD policies and procedures, may establish 

subcommittees, task groups, or working groups to support the Judicial Proceedings Panel. 

Establishment of subcommittees will be based upon a written determination, to include 

terms of reference, by the Secretary of Defense, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, or the 

DoD GC. 

These subcommittees shall not work independently of the Judicial Proceedings Panel and 

shall report all of their recommendations and advice to the Judicial Proceedings Panel for 

full deliberation and discussion. Subcommittees have no authority to make decisions and 

recommendations, verbally or in writing, on behalf of the Judicial Proceedings Panel. No

subcommittee or any of its members may update or report directly to the DoD or any 

Federal officers or employees. 

The Secretary of Defense shall appoint subcommittee members even if the member in 

question is already a member of the Judicial Proceedings Panel. All subcommittee 

appointments shall be subject to annual renewal. Such individuals, if not full-time or parttime government personnel, shall be appointed as experts or consultants pursuant to 5 

U.S.C. § 3109 to serve as SGE members. Those individuals who are full-time or 

permanent part-time Federal employees shall be appointed pursuant to 41 C.F.R. § 102-

3.130(a) as RGE members. Subcommittee members shall serve for the life of the 

subcommittee. With the exception of reimbursement of official travel and per diem, 

subcommittee members shall serve without compensation.

All subcommittees operate pursuant to the provisions of FACA, the Sunshine Act, 

governing Federal statutes and regulations, and established DoD policies and procedures.

14. Recordkeeping: The records of the Judicial Proceedings Panel and its subcommittees 

shall be handled according to section 2, General Records Schedule 26, and appropriate 

Department of Defense policies and procedures. These records shall be available for 

public inspection and copying, subject to the Freedom of Information Act of 1966 (5 

U.S.C. § 552, as amended).

15. Filing Date: June 24, 2014
33

Judicial Proceedings Panel 

Committee and Subcommittee 

Member Biographies

APPENDIX B:

JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL MEMBERS

THE HONORABLE ELIZABETH HOLTZMAN – CHAIR OF THE JPP

Elizabeth Holtzman is counsel with the law firm Herrick, Feinstein LLP. Ms. Holtzman served for eight 

years as a U.S. representative (D-NY, 1973–81). While in office, she authored the Rape Privacy Act. 

She then served for eight years as District Attorney of Kings County, New York (Brooklyn), the fourthlargest DA’s office in the country, where she helped change rape laws, improve standards and methods 

for prosecution, and develop programs to train police and medical personnel. In 1989 Ms. Holtzman 

became the only woman ever elected Comptroller of New York City. Ms. Holtzman graduated from 

Radcliffe College, magna cum laude, and received her law degree from Harvard Law School.

THE HONORABLE BARBARA S. JONES

Barbara Jones is a partner at the law firm Bracewell LLP. She served as a judge in the U.S. District 

Court for the Southern District of New York for 16 years and heard a wide range of cases relating to 

accounting and securities fraud, antitrust, fraud and corruption involving city contracts and federal 

loan programs, labor racketeering, and terrorism. Before being nominated to the bench in 1995, 

Judge Jones was the Chief Assistant to Robert M. Morgenthau, then the District Attorney of New 

York County (Manhattan). In that role she supervised community affairs, handled public information, 

and oversaw the work of the Homicide Investigation Unit. In addition to her judicial service, she 

spent more than two decades as a prosecutor. Judge Jones was a special attorney of the United States 

Department of Justice (DOJ) Organized Crime & Racketeering, Criminal Division, and the Manhattan 

Strike Force Against Organized Crime and Racketeering. Previously, Judge Jones served as an Assistant 

U.S. Attorney, as chief of the General Crimes Unit, and as chief of the Organized Crime Unit in the 

Southern District of New York.

MR. VICTOR STONE

Victor Stone represents crime victims at the Maryland Crime Victims Resource Center, Inc. Previously, 

Mr. Stone served as Special Counsel at the United States Department of Justice. He spent 40 years with 

the Department of Justice in numerous positions, including as Chief Counsel, FBI Foreign Terrorist 

Task Force, and as Assistant U.S. Attorney in Oregon and the District of Columbia. He has experience 

working on victims’ and prisoners’ rights, serving on committees that resulted in the enactment of the 

Crime Victims’ Rights Act and updates to the ABA Standards for Prisoner Rights. After graduating 

from Harvard Law School, he clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

I. Introduction
34

REPORT ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

PROFESSOR THOMAS W. TAYLOR

Tom Taylor teaches graduate courses at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. Previously, 

he served as a decorated and distinguished Army officer, civil servant, and member of the Senior 

Executive Service. During a 27-year career in the Pentagon, he advised seven secretaries and seven 

Chiefs of Staff of the Army, and as the senior leader of the Army legal community he worked on a wide 

variety of operational, personnel, and intelligence issues. He graduated with high honors from Guilford 

College, Greensboro, N.C., and with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill law 

school, where he was a Morehead Fellow, a member of the law review, and a member of the Order of 

the Coif. 

VICE ADMIRAL PATRICIA A. TRACEY, U.S. NAVY (RETIRED)

Pat Tracey was most recently the Vice President of Homeland Security and Defense for Hewlett 

Packard Enterprise Services, U.S. Public Sector, developing dynamic strategies and providing support to 

various agencies including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. 

Department of State, and U.S. Department of Defense. She completed a distinguished 34-year naval 

career in 2004, retiring as a vice admiral and the most senior woman officer in the history of the U.S. 

Navy. As chief of the Navy’s $5 billion global education and training enterprise, Admiral Tracey led 

a successful revolution in training technology to improve the quality, access, effectiveness, and cost of 

Navy training. She graduated from the College of New Rochelle and the Naval Postgraduate School, 

with distinction, and completed a Fellowship with the Chief of Naval Operations’ Strategic Studies 

Group.
35

APPENDIX B: JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL COMMITTEE AND SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBER BIOGRAPHIES

JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS

THE HONORABLE BARBARA S. JONES – CHAIR OF THE JPP SUBCOMMITTEE

Barbara Jones is a partner at the law firm Bracewell, LLP. She served as a judge in the U.S. District 

Court for the Southern District of New York for 16 years, where she handled a wide range of cases 

relating to accounting and securities fraud, antitrust, fraud and corruption involving city contracts 

and federal loan programs, labor racketeering, and terrorism. Prior to her nomination to the bench in 

1995, Judge Jones spent more than two decades as a prosecutor. She was the Chief Assistant to Robert 

M. Morgenthau, then the District Attorney of New York County (Manhattan), where she supervised 

community affairs, handled public information, and oversaw the work of the Homicide Investigation 

Unit. Previously, Judge Jones served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New 

York, where she tried numerous organized crime cases and was Chief of the Organized Crime Strike 

Force in Manhattan.

THE HONORABLE ELIZABETH HOLTZMAN – CHAIR OF THE JPP

Elizabeth Holtzman, who took office as the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, served in the 

House of Representatives from 1973 to 1981, representing New York’s 16th Congressional District. 

While in Congress, she served on the House Judiciary and Budget Committees and chaired the 

Immigration and Refugees Subcommittee. She co-founded the Congressional Women’s Caucus and 

was elected its first Democratic chair. She subsequently was elected Brooklyn District Attorney (where 

she pioneered new strategies for the prosecution of rape cases)—the only woman ever elected DA in 

New York City. She was then elected New York City Comptroller, the only woman ever to hold that 

position. Ms. Holtzman was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the Interagency Working Group 

(on declassifying secret Nazi war crimes files), and by Secretary Hagel to the Response Systems to 

Adult Sexual Assault Crimes Panel. She has also been appointed to the Department of Homeland 

Security Advisory Committee. Ms. Holtzman is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard 

University’s Radcliffe College, magna cum laude. She practices law in New York City with the firm 

Herrick, Feinstein, LLP.
36

REPORT ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

MS. LISA FRIEL

Lisa Friel is an internationally recognized expert on sexual assault. Ms. Friel has investigated and 

supervised complex cases involving sexual assault and harassment, human trafficking, workplace 

violence, child pornography, Internet predators, unlawful surveillance, theft, and fraud. Ms. Friel 

began her professional career at the New York County District Attorney’s Office, specializing in 

sexual assault cases. She was the Chief of the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit for nearly a decade and the 

Deputy Chief for 11 years. Supervising more than 40 assistant district attorneys, support staff, and 

investigators, she typically managed 300 cases and investigations at any one time. 

Ms. Friel has directed thousands of investigations into allegations of sexual assault and other 

misconduct and has trained hundreds of law enforcement personnel throughout the world. In 

October 2011, following a distinguished 28-year career as a Manhattan prosecutor, Ms. Friel joined 

T&M Protection Resources as Vice President of the Sexual Misconduct Consulting & Investigations 

division. Ms. Friel and her staff developed policies and procedures, provided training workshops, and 

conducted sensitive investigations into a myriad of issues, including sexual misconduct (both sexual 

assault and sexual harassment) and domestic violence. In September 2014, Ms. Friel was appointed as 

T&M’s Special Advisor to the NFL Commissioner, consulting on domestic violence, child abuse, and 

sexual assault within the National Football League. In April 2015, Ms. Friel accepted a permanent 

position with the NFL: an appointment by Commissioner Goodell as the NFL’s Special Counsel for 

Investigations, where she is responsible for all investigations related to possible violations of the NFL’s 

Personal Conduct Policy.

MS. LAURIE ROSE KEPROS 

Laurie Rose Kepros is the Director of Sexual Litigation for the Colorado Office of the State Public 

Defender, where she trains and advises more than 700 lawyers and other staff statewide in their 

representation of adults and juveniles accused or convicted of sexual crimes. Ms. Kepros has personally 

represented thousands of criminal defendants, including many victims of sexual assault. She has tried 

and consulted on thousands of sexual offense cases across the state of Colorado. She has served on 

dozens of subcommittees of the Colorado Sex Offender Management Board and as a member of both 

the Sex Offense Task Force and the Sex Offense Working Group of the Sentencing Task Force of the 

Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice. Ms. Kepros was on the Board of Directors 

of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar (CCDB) for 10 years and currently serves on the board of the 

CCDB’s sister policy organization, the Colorado Criminal Defense Institute. She is a member of the 

Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers and an adjunct professor at the University of Denver 

School of Law. She has repeatedly testified before the Colorado legislature as a subject matter expert 

in sexual crime law and as an expert witness in Colorado sex offense law in federal district court. In 

2012, the CCDB awarded her the Gideon Award for upholding and preserving the principles captured 

by Gideon v. Wainwright.
37

APPENDIX B: JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL COMMITTEE AND SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBER BIOGRAPHIES

DEAN LISA SCHENCK (COLONEL, U.S. ARMY, RETIRED)

Dean Lisa Schenck became Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the George Washington University 

Law School in 2009 after serving in the Army’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps for more than 25 

years. She also has served as a judge, lawyer, and educator. While in the military, she was an appellate 

military judge on the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals in 2002 and received the 2003 Judge 

Advocates Association Outstanding Career Armed Services Attorney Award (Army). In 2005, Dean 

Schenck was the first woman appointed as a Senior Judge on that court, where she served until she 

retired. In 2007, the Secretary of Defense also appointed her to serve concurrently as Associate Judge 

on the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review. After retiring from the military as a colonel in 

2008, Dean Schenck served as Senior Advisor to the Defense Task Force on Sexual Assault in Military 

Services.

PROFESSOR LEE SCHINASI (COLONEL, U.S. ARMY, RETIRED)

Professor Lee Schinasi began his legal career as a trial attorney for the Office of Economic Opportunity 

before starting a 23-year career in the Army’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps. His final assignment 

was as Dean of Academics and Vice Dean of the Army’s JAGC School. Professor Schinasi attended 

the resident Command and General Staff College and the resident Army War College. He has served 

as military legal advisor to the Army’s Chief of Staff for Intelligence and as Staff Judge Advocate of 

the 3rd Infantry Division (in Germany) and United States Army South (in Panama). Professor Schinasi 

is co-author of several books on evidence and litigation, including The Military Rules of Evidence 

Manual, Military Evidentiary Foundations, The Florida Evidence Code Trial Book, Florida Evidentiary 

Foundations, Evidence in Florida, Emerging Problems under the Federal Rules of Evidence, and 

Lawyers Cooperative Practice Guide: Florida Evidence. He received a bachelor’s degree in economics 

and a J.D. degree from the University of Toledo. Before joining the Barry Law faculty, Professor 

Schinasi taught at the University of Miami School of Law. He currently teaches evidence, torts, civil 

procedure, and national security law.
38

REPORT ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

BRIGADIER GENERAL JAMES SCHWENK, U.S. MARINE CORPS (RETIRED)

Brigadier General James Schwenk retired from the Marine Corps in 2000 and from civil service in 

2014, after 49 years of federal service. As a Marine Corps judge advocate, he served as a trial counsel, 

defense counsel, Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, Staff Judge Advocate, Special Assistant to the General 

Counsel of the Navy, Head of Operational Law Branch at Headquarters Marine Corps, Deputy 

Director of Legal and Legislative Policy for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force 

Management and Policy, Assistant Judge Advocate General of the Navy for Military Law, and Military 

Assistant to the DoD General Counsel. Upon retiring from active duty, BGen Schwenk served for 14 

years in the Office of the General Counsel of the Department of Defense as Senior Associate Deputy 

General Counsel, specializing in personnel policy, military justice, and civil support. He was the 

principal legal advisor for the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” and the provision of benefits to samesex spouses of military personnel. In addition, he was the principal legal advisor to numerous DoD 

working groups in the area of military personnel policy, working extensively with the White House and 

Congress. BGen Schwenk attended the Washington College of Law, American University, earning his 

J.D. in 1977. 

MS. JILL WINE-BANKS 

Jill Wine-Banks has a background as a corporate executive in manufacturing and telecommunications 

and as an attorney and not-for-profit and government leader. Ms. Wine-Banks started her career at 

the Department of Justice prosecuting organized crime and labor racketeering cases and then played 

a crucial role as an assistant special prosecutor investigating and trying the Watergate obstruction of 

justice case. Ms. Wine-Banks also served as the General Counsel of the United States Army. In that 

position, Ms. Wine-Banks dealt with environmental, procurement, Panama Canal, intelligence, military 

justice, and political issues, including the integration of women into basic training and West Point. 

After leaving the Pentagon, she was a litigation partner at Jenner and Block, the Solicitor General and 

Deputy Attorney General of Illinois, and later the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer 

of the American Bar Association, the world’s largest legal publisher and professional association 

with almost 400,000 members. That experience led to her becoming a senior corporate executive at 

Motorola and then Maytag, handling international business development, global operations, alliance 

creation and management, and government relations in Pakistan, China, Ukraine, Russia, France, 

Germany, Japan, and Singapore. Recently, Ms. Wine-Banks was head of career and technical education 

for the Chicago Public Schools and a business consultant. Ms. Wine-Banks is currently writing a book 

about her life and career, with a special focus on her experiences during Watergate.
39

List of Installation Site Visits 

and Subcommittee Members 

in Attendance

APPENDIX C:

DATES INSTALLATIONS REPRESENTED SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS

July 11–12, 2016 Naval Station Norfolk, VA*

Joint Base Langley-Eustis, VA

Hon. Elizabeth Holtzman

Dean Lisa Schenck

BGen (R) James Schwenk

July 27–28, 2016 Fort Carson, CO

Peterson Air Force Base, CO

Schriever Air Force Base, CO

U.S. Air Force Academy, CO

Ms. Lisa Friel

Ms. Laurie Kepros

Professor Lee Schinasi

Ms. Jill Wine-Banks

August 1–2, 2016 Fort Bragg, NC

Camp Lejeune, NC

Ms. Laurie Kepros

Professor Lee Schinasi

BGen (R) James Schwenk

August 8–9, 2016 Naval Station San Diego, CA

Marine Corps Recruiting Depot 

San Diego, CA

Marine Corps Air Station 

Miramar, CA

Camp Pendleton, CA

Hon. Barbara Jones

Ms. Laurie Kepros

Ms. Jill Wine-Banks

August 22–23, 

2016

Marine Corps Base Quantico, VA

Joint Base Andrews, MD

U.S. Naval Academy, MD

Washington Navy Yard, 

Washington, DC

Dean Lisa Schenck

BGen (R) James Schwenk

Ms. Jill Wine-Banks

September 12–14, 

2016

Osan Air Base, South Korea

Camp Humphreys, South Korea

Camp Red Cloud, South Korea

Camp Casey, South Korea

U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan, 

South Korea

Camp Butler, Japan

Camp Zama, Japan

Kadena Air Base, Japan

Yokota Air Base, Japan

Hon. Elizabeth Holtzman

Ms. Jill Wine-Banks

*Installations in bold type are the actual meeting locations for the site visits.

I. Introduction

41

Subcommittee Report to the Judicial 

Proceedings Panel on Military Defense Counsel Resources 

and Experience in Sexual Assault Cases

APPENDIX D:

I. Introduction

SUBCOMMITTEE OF 

THE JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL

REPORT ON 

MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL

RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE

IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

December 2016
42

REPORT ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

SUBCOMMITTEE TO THE 

JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL

CHAIR

The Honorable Barbara S. Jones

MEMBERS

Ms. Lisa Friel

The Honorable Elizabeth Holtzman

Ms. Laurie Kepros

Dean Lisa Schenck, Colonel (Retired), U.S. Army

Professor Lee Schinasi, Colonel (Retired), U.S. Army

Brigadier General James Schwenk, U.S. Marine Corps, Retired

Ms. Jill Wine-Banks

STAFF DIRECTOR

Captain Tammy P. Tideswell, JAGC, U.S. Navy

DEPUTY STAFF DIRECTOR

Lieutenant Colonel Patricia H. Lewis, Deputy Staff Director, JAGC, U.S. Army

CHIEF OF STAFF

Mr. Dale L. Trexler

DESIGNATED FEDERAL OFFICIAL

Ms. Maria Fried
43

APPENDIX D: SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT TO THE JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL ON 

MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES
44

REPORT ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

1

Executive Summary

SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT TO THE JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL 

ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN 

SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

From July through September 2016, members of the Judicial Proceedings Panel (JPP) Subcommittee, 

at the request of the JPP, spoke to more than 280 individuals—representing 25 military installations 

throughout the United States and Asia, all involved in the military justice process—about the 

investigation, prosecution, and defense of sexual assault offenses. 

This report summarizes site visit information and the Subcommittee’s subsequent research, and makes 

findings regarding defense investigators, the experience levels of defense counsel, and the resources 

available to them in the military.

On the basis of the information gathered, the Subcommittee makes the following recommendations:

Recommendation 1: The Subcommittee recommends that in order to ensure the fair 

administration of justice, all of the military Services provide independent and deployable defense 

investigators under their control in sufficient numbers so that every defense counsel has access to 

an investigator, as needed.

Recommendation 2: The Subcommittee recommends that the military Services immediately 

review Service defense organizations’ staffing—defense counsel, paralegals, highly qualified 

experts, and administrative support personnel—and augment current levels in order to alleviate 

the reported understaffing. The Secretary of Defense should direct an audit conducted by an 

independent, outside entity of defense staffing across all military Services to determine the 

optimum level of staffing for the Service defense organizations in the long term.

Recommendation 3: The Subcommittee recommends that the Secretary of Defense direct the 

military Services to vest defense expert funding and approval authority in the Service defense 

organizations.

Recommendation 4: The Subcommittee recommends that the military Services permit only a 

defense counsel with prior military justice or civilian criminal litigation experience to serve as lead 

defense counsel in a sexual assault case. The military Services should develop a formal process, 

using objective and subjective criteria, to determine when a defense counsel is qualified to serve 

as a lead defense counsel in a sexual assault case. In addition, the military Services should set the 

minimum tour length for defense counsel at two years or more, except when a lesser tour length 

is approved by the Service Judge Advocate General or Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant 

of the Marine Corps.

Executive Summary
45

APPENDIX D: SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT TO THE JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL ON 

MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

1

Military Defense Counsel Resources and 

Experience in Sexual Assault Cases

From July through September 2016, members of the Judicial Proceedings Panel (JPP) Subcommittee, 

at the request of the JPP, spoke to more than 280 individuals—representing 25 military installations 

throughout the United States and Asia, all involved in the military justice process—about the 

investigation, prosecution, and defense of sexual assault offenses. Discussions were held without 

attribution so that Subcommittee members could hear candid perceptions of the military’s handling 

of sexual assault litigation from the men and women who are investigating, litigating, and 

supporting those cases. The Subcommittee spoke to groups of military prosecutors, defense counsel, 

special victims’ counsel/victims’ legal counsel (SVC/VLC), paralegals, and investigators, as well as 

commanders, sexual assault response coordinators, victim advocates, and victim-witness liaisons from 

all military Services. 

On the basis of the information received during these site visits, the Subcommittee determined that 

on several issues, it would have to undertake further research before reporting to the JPP. This 

report summarizes site visit information and subsequent research regarding defense investigators, the 

experience levels of defense counsel, and the resources available to them in the military. In producing 

this report, the JPP Subcommittee used information gathered from site visits, information previously 

presented to the JPP at a public hearing, information derived from the Report of the Response Systems 

to Adult Sexual Assault Crimes Panel of June 2014, and existing statutory resources.

I. INADEQUATE STAFFING AND RESOURCES FOR MILITARY DEFENSE 

COUNSEL

A. Site Visit Information. Most of the defense counsel who participated in the Subcommittee’s site visits 

reported that they are seriously understaffed and under resourced. These accounts were corroborated 

by comments from prosecutors interviewed during these site visits. At many installations, counsel 

stressed that a lack of attorneys, paralegals, investigators, experts, and basic resources hinders their 

ability to handle their caseload, more than half of which, they stated, is composed of sexual assault 

cases. At one installation, for example, an office at a large military installation with ten defense counsel 

had only one paralegal.

The most urgent and frequently raised issue regarding defense resources was a persistent lack of 

defense investigators. Defense counsel explained that in the current system, the Military Criminal 

Investigative Organizations (MCIOs) will not investigate leads at their request. Even if they were to 

do so, the information obtained would not be protected by attorney-client or work product privileges 

(as it would be for independent investigators assigned to work on a traditional criminal defense team). 

Some defense and trial counsel also expressed concern that MCIO investigators are often unwilling to 

follow up on investigative leads, thereby affecting the thoroughness of the investigation. And because, 

as MCIO investigators told the Subcommittee, they are required to be “non-confrontational” in their 

interactions with victims, potential problems in a victim’s statement (e.g., inconsistencies with other 

evidence) may not be thoroughly explored. 

II. Obtaining Information Regarding Adjudication of Sexual Assault Offenses
46

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Defense counsel also noted that as a result of recent statutory changes to the Article 32 pretrial hearing 

process, fewer witnesses, including the victim, testify at the Article 32 hearing and less evidence is 

presented, making it more difficult for defense counsel to ascertain pertinent information about 

the government’s case. The combination of this recent change in Article 32 practice and the lack of 

defense investigators has left defense counsel unable to investigate their cases in what they see as an 

appropriately effective manner.

The Navy is currently the only Service that employs defense investigators—eight of them worldwide. 

The other Services lack any independent budget to fund defense investigators, and defense counsel 

stated that they have to request funding for an investigator from the convening authority or military 

judge in each case in which they deem an investigator necessary.1

 Defense counsel and prosecutors 

agreed that these requests are routinely denied. Defense counsel consistently told Subcommittee 

members during the site visits that they rely on junior paralegals, who are not trained investigators, to 

help investigate these cases by finding and interviewing potential witnesses. As a result, these paralegals 

are also less available to carry out those job functions for which they have in fact been trained. Defense 

counsel mentioned that they do, on occasion, ask their clients to personally hire investigators and 

experts if the government denies their requests.

Defense counsel noted that their ability to investigate their clients’ cases is limited by their demanding 

trial schedules and by the ethical need to avoid a conflict of interest caused by becoming a potential 

witness in the case—a problem that may arise if the lawyer is the only person present to conduct a 

witness interview. If, for example, a witness makes a statement during an interview but then testifies 

inconsistently at trial, the lawyer would be the only possible witness available to impeach the 

discrepant testimony. The practical consequence of this situation is that the lawyer becomes a witness 

in his or her own case, and therefore a substitute, conflict-free counsel would have to be appointed, 

leading to greater expense, added complication, and likely delay in the trial process, in addition to 

the possible negative effect on the case of replacing the original defense counsel with a new lawyer 

unfamiliar with the case. At the same time, if such exculpatory, impeaching testimony is unavailable 

to the accused, he or she may be denied the constitutional protections of confrontation, the right 

to present a defense, the right to receive a fair trial, and the right to due process of law. In civilian 

practice, this problem is largely avoided through the use of professional defense investigators who can 

conduct the interviews and then testify about them in court as necessary. Feedback from Navy defense 

counsel about the recent addition of defense investigators was very positive, and they felt it alleviated 

the problems noted above.

B. Other Sources of Information Regarding Defense Investigators. The Response Systems to Adult 

Sexual Assault Crimes Panel (RSP) reviewed the issue of defense investigators in its June 2014 report. 

The RSP found that defense requests for independent investigators made to the convening authority or 

military judge are routinely denied, noting that “military defense counsel need independent, deployable 

defense investigators to zealously represent their clients and correct an obvious imbalance of 

resources.”2

 The RSP received information from a number of civilian public defenders and found that 

“many public defender offices have investigators on their staffs and consider them critical.”3

 In fact, 

the former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers told a subcommittee of 

the RSP, “I don’t know a lawyer in the country that does sex offenses without an investigator, except in 

1 Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2012 ed.) [hereinafter MCM], Rules for Courts-Martial [hereinafter R.C.M.] 

703(d). 

2 RepoRt of the Response systems to Adult sexuAl AssAult CRimes pAnel 153 (June 2014) [hereinafter Rsp RepoRt], 

available at http://responsesystemspanel.whs.mil/Public/docs/Reports/00_Final/RSP_Report_Final_20140627.pdf. 

3 Id. at 153.
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the military. Really, there is no such thing.”4 The RSP noted that these investigators aid defense counsel 

in locating and interviewing potential witnesses, finding experts, and identifying services to assist the 

defense in complying with court-ordered treatment. Their work enables defense counsel to prepare for 

trial and gives attorneys “a fighting chance to develop facts and other evidence that is rarely provided 

to them by the government and is crucial for the proper representation of their clients.”5

 The RSP 

concluded their review of this topic by making the following recommendation: 

RSP Recommendation 81: The Secretary of Defense direct the Services to provide 

independent, deployable defense investigators in order to increase the efficiency and 

effectiveness of the defense mission and the fair administration of justice.6

As reported during the site visits, only the Navy has implemented this RSP recommendation: it has 

hired eight “defense litigation support specialists,” more commonly known as defense investigators.7

These defense investigators are civilians with prior law enforcement or defense experience. The Navy’s 

Director of the Defense Counsel Assistance Program (DCAP) told the JPP that they have made it 

possible for defense counsel to focus on preparing for trial and getting needed training.8 He added, 

however, that the Navy could use more than eight defense investigators.9

Also of significance regarding this issue are recent congressional changes that have dramatically altered 

the Article 32 process, changing it in practice from a pretrial investigation into a preliminary hearing 

and removing the requirement that a victim appear and testify at the hearing.10 Prior to this statutory 

change, the Article 32 allowed for a “thorough and impartial investigation” of the case in which an 

investigating officer investigated the “truth and form of the charges.”11 Sexual assault victims were 

4 Transcript of RSP Comparative Systems Subcommittee Meeting 230 (Jan. 7, 2014) (Ms. Lisa Wayne, former President, 

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers).

5 Supra note 2 at 153, quoting Charles D. Stimson, “Sexual Assault in the Military: Understanding the Problem and How 

to Fix It” 18–19 (Nov. 6, 2013); Transcript of RSP Public Meeting 380–81 (Dec. 12, 2013) (testimony of Mr. James 

Whitehead, Supervising Attorney, Trial Division, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia) (“But as far as 

investigators are concerned, some lawyers share an investigator with just one other lawyer or some have their own specific 

investigator. And I was lucky enough to have my own specific investigator for a while. I share one now. But it makes it 

much easier in terms of being able to defend our clients finding out that you could throw away all your kind of subjective 

beliefs about your client’s guilt or innocence and then you do investigation and you investigate no matter how much bad 

evidence there seemingly is. You find out that there are some things—sometimes complainants do not tell the truth. So, 

you know, one word I kind of bristle at when I hear it all the time from I guess panels that are supposedly objective is 

the word ‘victim.’ When we talk about pre-trial matters that have not resulted in conviction or that have not resulted in 

the guilty plea, we deal with complainants, because a lot of times we understand that alleged victims aren’t victims at all 

when we investigate and even the government finds out before we do that things have been made up. So I think that just 

reemphasizes the importance of having investigators and having all the different aspects of the case, whether or not it’s 

legal or on the field, done in order to have a decent—not only a decent, but a zealous defense.”).

6 Supra note 2 at 153.

7 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 208 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of CDR Stephen Reyes, JAGC, U.S. Navy, Director, 

Defense Counsel Assistance Program).

8 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 208–09 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of CDR Stephen Reyes, JAGC, U.S. Navy, Director, 

Defense Counsel Assistance Program).

9 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 213 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of CDR Stephen Reyes, JAGC, U.S. Navy, Director, 

Defense Counsel Assistance Program).

10 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 [hereinafter FY 14 NDAA], Pub. L. 113-66, 127 Stat. 672 

(2013) § 1702(a); National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, Pub. L. 113-291, 128 Stat. 3292 (2014) § 

531(g) makes this change effective for all preliminary hearings conducted on or after December 26, 2014.

11 10 U.S.C. § 832 (UCMJ, art. 32); MCM, supra note 1, R.C.M. 405(a) and (e).
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frequently required to appear and testify at the Article 32 investigation and were subject to crossexamination by the defense counsel.12 One of the stated purposes of this Article 32 investigation was to 

“serve as a means of discovery.”13 Under the new process, the Article 32 preliminary hearing is limited 

to determining primarily whether there is probable cause to believe that an offense has been committed 

and that the accused committed the offense.14 Victims are no longer required to testify at the Article 

32 hearing,15 and frequently do not, and it is no longer one of the stated purposes of the hearing that it 

serve as a means of discovery. Both trial and defense counsel interviewed during installation site visits 

referred to the new Article 32 process as a “paper drill,” often with no witnesses being called to testify 

and only documentary evidence submitted. Counsel expressed the view that because of these changes 

to the Article 32 process, it is more vital than ever to provide additional investigative resources for 

defense counsel.

All of the military Services’ chief defense counsel discussed the necessity of having defense 

investigators to relieve defense counsel and paralegals from the burden of having to conduct their own 

investigations. The Army Chief of Trial Defense Services noted that an informal survey of defense 

counsel making requests for defense investigators found that only one in twelve requests was approved 

in sexual assault cases.16 One witness told the JPP that the law requires defense counsel to adequately 

investigate the facts of the case; otherwise, he or she could be found to be ineffective.17 Several 

witnesses expressed their view that the refusal to provide defense investigators amounts to depriving 

the defendants of due process.18 The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces has not yet ruled on this 

specific issue19 but has discussed an analogous resource, a mitigation specialist for a defendant in a 

capital case, stating that “[c]ompulsory process, equal access to evidence and witnesses, and the right 

to necessary expert assistance in presenting a defense are guaranteed to military accuseds through the 

Sixth Amendment, Article 46, UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 846 (2000), and Rule for Courts-Martial (R.C.M.) 

703(d).”20

Some counsel noted during site visits that there is a high acquittal rate in military courts-martial for 

sexual assault cases—a statistic that may, on its surface, seem to undercut the need for additional 

resources for defense counsel. However, the ultimate result of a trial, whether conviction or acquittal, 

12 10 U.S.C. § 832 (UCMJ, art. 32); MCM, supra note 1, R.C.M. 405(g)(2)(A) and (h)(1)(A).

13 MCM, supra note 1, discussion to R.C.M. 405(a).

14 FY 14 NDAA § 1702(a).

15 Id.

16 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 241–42 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of COL Daniel Brookhart, U.S. Army, Chief, Trial 

Defense Services).

17 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 197 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of Col Terri Zimmerman, U.S. Marine Corps, Reserve 

Counterpart to the Chief Defense Counsel, Defense Services Branch). The Supreme Court of the United States held that 

ineffective assistance of counsel requires the defendant to show that (1) counsel’s performance was deficient, meaning it fell 

below an objective standard of reasonableness; and (2) the deficient performance prejudiced the defense so as to deprive 

the defendant of a fair trial. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984). See Also ABA stAndARds foR CRiminAl JustiCe: 

defense funCtion stAndARd 4-4.1 (Am. Bar Ass’n, 3d ed. 1993) on Duty to Investigate.

18 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 242–43 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of COL Daniel Brookhart, U.S. Army, Chief, Trial 

Defense Services; Col Terri Zimmerman, U.S. Marine Corps, Reserve Counterpart to the Chief Defense Counsel, Defense 

Services Branch; Col Daniel Higgins, U.S. Air Force, Chief, Trial Defense Division).

19 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 246–47 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of CDR Stephen Reyes, JAGC, U.S. Navy, Director, 

Defense Counsel Assistance Program).

20 See United States v. Kreutzer, 61 M.J. 293, 305-06 (C.A.A.F. 2005).
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is not the sole measure of whether a process was fair and indeed complied with the due process 

protections of the Constitution.

C. Other Sources of Information Regarding Additional Office Staffing and Resources. In its June 2014 

report to Congress, the RSP recommended that military defense organizations be provided adequate 

funding resources and personnel.21 In doing so, the RSP found that “maintaining adequate resources 

for the defense of military personnel accused of crimes, including sexual assault, is essential to the 

legitimacy and fairness of the military justice system.”22

At the May 13, 2016, public meeting of the JPP, the Army Chief of Trial Defense Services identified his 

biggest challenge as not having enough defense counsel, explaining that the number of defense counsel 

billets has gone down since the RSP met and he can’t fill the ones he has.23 A Marine Corps witness 

told the JPP that “there’s a perception of a disparity in resources. And, with all due respect, I’d like to 

say it’s more than a perception, it’s a reality.” She explained that in the Marine Corps, the prosecution 

has four highly qualified experts (HQEs), while the defense has only two.24

D. Subcommittee Assessment and Recommendations. Civilian public defense organizations and private 

defense counsel routinely rely on defense investigators to locate and interview witnesses, as well as to 

take other investigative steps. Their assistance enables defense counsel to properly prepare their cases 

and represent their clients to the best of their ability. According to information from Navy defense 

counsel, the addition of the eight defense investigators has been tremendously beneficial. 

Given the introduction of the SVC/VLC into the MCIO victim interview process, as well as the 

unwillingness of MCIOs to follow up on leads from defense or trial counsel, the addition of 

independent defense investigators is more crucial now than it has ever been. The Subcommittee notes 

that the approval and funding authority for defense investigator requests is the convening authority 

who referred the charges to court-martial and who may have a vested interest in the outcome of the 

case. These requests, it should be noted, are denied more than 90% of the time.

Furthermore, as they are no longer able to cross-examine the victim at the current Article 32 hearing 

and have lost access to the witness testimony and other evidence formerly received at the Article 32 

hearing, defense counsel are at significantly greater disadvantage than they were prior to the changes 

to the Article 32 process. This alteration in procedure makes adding independent defense investigators 

essential to the fair administration of justice.

The Subcommittee makes the following recommendations:

Recommendation 1: The Subcommittee recommends that in order to ensure the fair 

administration of justice, all of the military Services provide independent and deployable defense 

21 Supra note 2 at 38 (RSP Recommendation 82 reads: “The Service Secretaries ensure military defense counsel organizations 

are adequately resourced in funding resources and personnel, including defense supervisory personnel with training and 

experience comparable to their prosecution counterparts, and direct the Services assess whether that is the case.”).

22 Supra note 2 at 38.

23 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 215 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of COL Daniel Brookhart, U.S. Army, Chief, Trial 

Defense Services) 

24 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 196 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of Col Terri Zimmerman, U.S. Marine Corps, Reserve 

Counterpart to the Chief Defense Counsel, Defense Services Branch). HQEs are highly qualified civilian attorneys 

employed by all Services, except the Air Force, to support litigation and the training of counsel. They serve in limited term 

appointments.
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investigators under their control in sufficient numbers so that every defense counsel has access to 

an investigator, as needed.

Recommendation 2: The Subcommittee recommends that the military Services immediately 

review Service defense organizations’ staffing—defense counsel, paralegals, highly qualified 

experts, and administrative support personnel—and augment current levels in order to alleviate 

the reported understaffing. The Secretary of Defense should direct an audit conducted by an 

independent, outside entity of defense staffing across all military Services to determine the 

optimum level of staffing for the Service defense organizations in the long term.

II. DEFENSE REQUESTS FOR EXPERTS 

A. Site Visit Information. Defense counsel and others also complained about lack of access to and 

funding for expert consultants, which puts the defense at an extreme disadvantage. Defense counsel 

noted that they have trouble getting qualified experts. In the military, defense counsel do not have their 

own source of funding for witnesses and experts, but must instead request funding from the convening 

authority. The response to these requests is frequently outright denial or provision of an inadequate 

substitute for the expert requested. Defense counsel described situations in which they requested a 

particular expert and were instead provided someone who was deemed to be an “adequate substitute.” 

The “adequate substitute” often lacked the specific knowledge required (for example, an expert in 

suggestibility in children might be replaced by a child psychologist who was a generalist). Moreover, 

if approval for an expert is given, it is often granted not at the outset of the case but rather on the 

eve of trial, when the expert is much less helpful to developing a theory of defense or assisting with 

preparation of the defense case. Even if defense counsel are successful in getting a qualified expert, the 

process of requesting the expert forces them to reveal their case or trial strategy to the government. 

Defense counsel do not see trial counsel receiving comparable treatment from the convening authority; 

instead, trial counsel can identify and recruit experts to join the prosecution at will, and readily 

consult with their experts before the defense receives expert assistance. Several prosecutors on the 

Subcommittee’s site visits concurred that this is a systemic problem.

B. Other Sources of Information. Article 46 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) states 

that “trial counsel, the defense counsel, and the court-martial shall have equal opportunity to obtain 

witnesses and other evidence[.]”25 Under the Rules for Courts-Martial, in every branch of Service and 

in every case, defense counsel must request funding from the convening authority, prior to referral of 

charges, for each specific expert witness or consultant needed. This request must include a complete 

statement of reasons why the expert is necessary and the estimated cost of employing the expert.26 If 

the request is denied by the convening authority, after referral of charges, the request may be renewed 

before a military judge, who determines whether the expert’s testimony is “relevant and necessary” and 

whether the government has provided or will provide an “adequate substitute.”27 This request before 

the military judge happens much later in the process, often close to trial, leaving inadequate time for 

the expert to fully assist the defense counsel in the preparation of the case. 

25 10 U.S.C. § 846 (UCMJ, art. 46).

26 R.C.M. 703(d).

27 Id.
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In applying Article 46 of the UCMJ to the issue of designation of expert consultants, the Court 

of Appeals for the Armed Forces has held that an “adequate substitute” must have qualifications 

“reasonably similar” to those of the government’s expert.28

In comparing military defense organizations and civilian public defenders, the RSP found that some 

public defender offices maintain their own budgets or request experts through a trial judge who 

manages the budget.29 The RSP also found that federal public defenders have specific funding to pay 

for defense experts.30 The RSP noted that federal discovery rules generally require civilian defense 

counsel to disclose experts and other witnesses to the government before trial, but not as early as 

military defense counsel, who must request their witnesses from the convening authority, through trial 

counsel.31 Civilian defense counsel also employ confidential consulting experts whose identities usually 

remain wholly unknown to the prosecution unless the defense elects to endorse the expert as a trial 

witness or otherwise injects their expertise into the litigation. This type of consulting expert is essential 

for defense counsel to receive a candid assessment of the evidence without fear that their investigation 

will develop inculpatory evidence that will be shared with and used by the government in prosecuting 

their client.

The Supreme Court of the United States has recognized a constitutional right to expert assistance for 

defendants with regard to both trial defense and sentencing defense, using the example of a mental 

health expert: “Without a psychiatrist’s assistance, the defendant cannot offer a well-informed expert’s 

opposing view, and thereby loses a significant opportunity to raise in the jurors’ minds questions about 

the State’s proof of an aggravating factor.”32

C. Subcommittee Assessment and Recommendation. Defense counsel in military organizations, like 

their civilian counterparts, should have separate sources of funding to employ defense experts, without 

having to request approval and thereby prematurely divulge their defense strategy to the government. 

There is also a tension between what the defense attorney must be able to articulate to the convening 

authority about the expert’s likely assistance and the lawyer’s need to actually learn from the expert. In 

this regard, the relative inexperience of military defense counsel can be a particular problem: if they do 

not already have deep knowledge of the field, they cannot fully explain or clearly articulate why they 

need the expert or persuasively explain the potential prejudice to their client. Moreover, they should 

not have to disclose their thinking.

Recommendation 3: The Subcommittee recommends that the Secretary of Defense direct the 

military Services to vest defense expert funding and approval authority in the Service defense 

organizations.

28 United States v. Warner, 62 M.J. 114 (C.A.A.F. 2005). The court went on to state, “The absence of such parity opens the 

military justice system to abuse, because the Government in general, and—as this case demonstrates—the trial counsel in 

particular, may play key roles in securing defense experts.” The appellant’s brief in this case analogizes this arrangement to 

“permitting a Major League baseball manager to choose the opposing pitcher in the final game of the World Series.”

29 Supra note 2 at 163.

30 Id.

31 Id.

32 Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68, 84 (1985).
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III. DEFENSE COUNSEL STAFFING AND EXPERIENCE LEVELS

A. Site Visit Information. The Subcommittee received information from defense counsel that the 

training they receive is generally adequate. However, there is disparity not only in the experience levels 

required among the Services but also between Service-level requirements and the actual experience 

of defense counsel in the field. While the Navy and Air Force require prior litigation experience of 

attorneys being assigned to defense counsel positions, in the Army and Marine Corps first-tour judge 

advocates with no experience in military justice or in the civilian criminal justice system are allowed 

to serve as defense counsel. Though participants acknowledged that such placements are not common, 

the few who had them found the experience overwhelming and discomforting. Several junior counsel 

recounted that in the first or second contested trial of their careers, they served as second chair in 

a rape case; one counsel then served as lead counsel in his third trial, also involving sexual assault 

charges. All of these counsel recommended against assigning brand-new attorneys to defense counsel 

positions. The likelihood that junior counsel will represent clients in serious and complex cases early in 

their careers is high, because—as participants uniformly reported—sexual assault cases make up most 

of their caseload. Defense counsel at multiple installations related that the recent addition of HQEs to 

trial defense services organizations has been very helpful in mitigating the experience gap, but noted 

that it is unclear whether the funding for these civilian career litigators will continue. In addition, 

HQEs hold term positions, not permanent ones.

B. Other Sources of Information. The RSP reviewed experience levels of defense counsel as part of 

its June 2014 report to Congress. The following table from that report33 summarizes experience and 

training requirements for defense counsel in each of the Services.

RSP Report Chart on Service Standards for Defense Counsel Experience and Training 

Organization Experience Training

U.S. Army

Defense Counsel

• Majority of defense counsel have 

prior courtroom experience. No 

specific minimum experience required.

• Experience sitting “second chair” 

until supervisor deems fit to try cases 

as first chair.

• Graduate of the Judge Advocate 

Officer Basic Course.

• Defense Counsel “101.”

• Advanced Trial Advocacy Courses.

U.S. Air Force

Defense Counsel

• The Air Force is unique in that 

defense counsel are selected in a very 

competitive, best-qualified standard 

by the Air Force Judge Advocate 

General. 

• Most defense counsel arrive with 2 

to 5 years of experience working in a 

base legal office, which includes time 

as a trial counsel in courts-martial.

• New defense counsel normally have 

between 8 and 10 courts-martial 

trials before starting as a defense 

counsel. 

• Specialized courses provided by the 

Air Force Judge Advocate General’s 

School.

• On-the-job training.

• Group training remains a challenge 

because of geographic diversity of 

counsel and length of tours.

• Out of the 19 Senior Defense Counsel 

regions, only 3 (San Antonio, 

Colorado Springs and the National 

Capitol Region) have the majority of 

their bases in close enough proximity 

to drive to group training.

33 Supra note 2 at 159–60 (slightly modified).
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Organization Experience Training

U.S. Navy

Defense Counsel

• Following their first 24-month tour 

handling administrative separations 

and other non-judicial issues, Navy 

Judge Advocates become eligible 

to be assigned to a Defense Service 

Office (DSO) as a defense counsel.34

• Military Justice Litigation Career 

Track officers are stationed in all 

DSO headquarters offices and some 

detachments, which are smaller 

regional offices.

• Once selected, counsel receive 

additional training, including a basic 

trial advocacy course focusing on 

courtroom advocacy.

• Within the first year at a DSO, 

defense counsel also attend the 

defending sexual assault cases class, 

an intense one-week course involving 

experts on forensics and psychology 

and very experienced civilian defense 

counsel.

U.S. Marine 

Corps 

Defense Counsel

• The vast majority of the Marine 

Corps’ 72 defense counsel are firsttour judge advocates with less than 3 

years of experience as an attorney. 

• They typically serve 18 months as 

defense counsel before moving to 

another assignment.

• The average litigation experience 

of both senior defense counsel and 

defense counsel is 14 months, which 

includes both prosecution and 

defense time.

• Defense counsel training requirements 

are set forth in Marine Corps 

policy. Defense counsel have a basic 

certification under Article 27(b), the 

basic lawyer course at the Naval 

Justice School. And then, at some 

point, maybe not before they start 

their official job, but at some point 

early in their tour, we try to send 

them to our new defense counsel 

orientation class which is sponsored 

by the Naval Justice School.35

U.S. Coast Guard

Defense Counsel

• By memorandum of agreement 

between the Coast Guard and 

the Navy JAG Corps, the Navy is 

principally responsible for defending 

Coast Guard members accused of 

Uniform Code of Military Justice 

(UCMJ) crimes.

• In return, four Coast Guard judge 

advocates are detailed to work 

at various Navy DSOs on 2-year 

rotations, which provides another 

significant source of trial experience 

to Coast Guard judge advocates.

• Coast Guard Defense Counsel attend 

Navy defense training.

3434 35

Noting the disparities between the Services regarding defense counsel experience and tour lengths, the 

RSP made the following recommendation:

RSP Recommendation 86: The Service Judge Advocate Generals and the Staff Judge 

Advocate to the Commandant of the Marine Corps permit only counsel with litigation 

experience to serve as lead defense counsel in a sexual assault case as well as set 

the minimum tour length of defense counsel at two years or more, except when a 

34 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 205–06 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of CDR Stephen Reyes, JAGC, U.S. Navy, Director, 

Defense Counsel Assistance Program, that all senior defense counsel and many other defense counsel in the Navy are 

qualified in military justice litigation).

35 See also Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 186–87 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of Col Terri Zimmerman, U.S. Marine 

Corps, Reserve Counterpart to the Chief Defense Counsel, Defense Services Branch).
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lesser tour length is approved by the Service Judge Advocate General or Staff Judge 

Advocate to the Commandant of the Marine Corps, or designee, because of exigent 

circumstances or to specifically enable training of defense counsel under supervision of 

experienced defense counsel.36

According to presentations by the Service trial defense chiefs during the JPP’s May 2016 public 

meeting, little has changed in defense counsel experience levels since the RSP Report was issued in June 

2014.37

In the Army, about 20% of attorneys assigned to a defense counsel position have no prior experience.38

While every attempt is made to avoid assigning a brand-new defense counsel to a sexual assault case, 

the realities of Trial Defense Services (TDS) staffing sometimes force the assignment of inexperienced 

attorneys to these cases, though they are able to consult with more senior defense counsel.39

Underscoring the point, a witness testifying before the JPP in May noted that the accused’s counsel in a 

given sexual assault case may have less trial experience than the victim’s counsel.40

In the Marine Corps, the “vast majority” of defense counsel are serving in their first tour and are often 

brand-new attorneys right out of law school.41 Compounding the problem, Marine Corps attorneys 

serve as defense counsel for only 12 to 14 months before moving to another position.42 Marine Corps 

Defense Services attempts to make up for this lack of experience through training (having new defense 

counsel sit as second chair in several courts-martial before serving as lead defense counsel) and through 

supervision by more experienced defense counsel.43

C. National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017. There is currently a provision in the 

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (FY 17 NDAA), pending presidential 

signature, which would require the Services to ensure that trial and defense counsel detailed to a courtmartial “have sufficient experience and knowledge to effectively prosecute or defend the case” and 

36 RSP RepoRt 39, 160–61.

37 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 163–248 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of COL Daniel Brookhart, U.S. Army, Chief, Trial 

Defense Services; Col Daniel Higgins, U.S. Air Force, Chief, Trial Defense Division; Col Terri Zimmerman, U.S. Marine 

Corps, Reserve Counterpart to the Chief Defense Counsel, Defense Services Branch; and CDR Stephen Reyes, JAGC, U.S. 

Navy, Director, Defense Counsel Assistance Program).

38 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 165 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of COL Daniel Brookhart, U.S. Army, Chief, Trial 

Defense Services).

39 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 165–66 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of COL Daniel Brookhart, U.S. Army, Chief, Trial 

Defense Services) (“[I]deally, you would not want to assign counsel to a sexual assault or any complex case until they’ve 

completed at least our DC 101 training . . . and served as a lead counsel on one or more less complex cases or at least a 

second chair on a more complex case. However, the realities of TDS manning and caseload often weigh against such a 

deliberative developmental process. In those instances where, out of necessity, defense counsel with less than ideal training 

and experience are assigned to defend sexual assault cases [they receive] guidance and input of their supervisor, the senior 

defense counsel.”).

40 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 216 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of COL Daniel Brookhart, U.S. Army, Chief, Trial 

Defense Services).

41 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 185 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of Col Terri Zimmerman, U.S. Marine Corps, Reserve 

Counterpart to the Chief Defense Counsel, Defense Services Branch).

42 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 189 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of Col Terri Zimmerman, U.S. Marine Corps, Reserve 

Counterpart to the Chief Defense Counsel, Defense Services Branch).

43 Transcript of JPP Public Meeting 186–88 (May 13, 2016) (testimony of Col Terri Zimmerman, U.S. Marine Corps, 

Reserve Counterpart to the Chief Defense Counsel, Defense Services Branch).
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APPENDIX D: SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT TO THE JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL ON 

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11

require the Services to have a professional development process to ensure effective prosecution and 

defense in all courts-martial.44 Under this provision, the Services must use a system of skill identifiers 

or experience designators for “identifying judge advocates with skill and experience in military justice 

proceedings” to provide oversight of less experienced counsel.45 The Services would also be required to 

carry out a five-year pilot program to “assess the feasibility and advisability of establishing a deliberate 

professional developmental process for judge advocates . . . that leads to judge advocates with military 

justice expertise serving as military justice practitioners capable of prosecuting and defending complex 

cases in military courts-martial.”46

D. Subcommittee Assessment and Recommendation. Most sexual assault cases that go to trial are fully 

litigated, complicated, difficult cases, and they often involve Military Rule of Evidence (MRE) 412 or 

MRE 513 motions.47 Since these cases are less likely than others to be plea-bargained, lawyers have 

a critical need to draw on trial court advocacy skills; and junior lawyers often have not yet had an 

opportunity to develop these skills in less serious cases. As reported by several defense counsel during 

Subcommittee site visits, sometimes defense counsel with little trial experience are called on to defend a 

Service member accused of serious sexual assault crimes. 

If convicted of a sexual assault offense, the accused faces a sentence that could include a punitive 

discharge and months or years of confinement as well as lifetime collateral sanctions related to the sex 

offense registry and evolving state, local, and international policies.48 The consequences for the accused 

of having inexperienced defense counsel could be catastrophic and life changing.

44 S. 2943, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, Report 114-840 (Conf. Rep.) §542, Effective 

prosecution and defense in courts-martial and pilot programs on professional military justice development for judge 

advocates.

45 Id.

46 Id.

47 MCM, Military Rules of Evidence [hereinafter MRE] 412 (updated June 2016) is titled “Sex offense cases: The victim’s 

sexual behavior or predisposition” and is the military’s so-called rape shield law. MRE 513 is the psychotherapist-patient 

privilege rule.

48 See generally, ABA nAtionAl inventoRy of CollAteRAl ConsequenCes of ConviCtion, available at http://www.

abacollateralconsequences.org/agreement/?from=/map/; in February 2016, President Obama signed “International Megan’s 

Law” mandating a new passport mark and control process for individuals convicted of sex crimes. Numerous foreign 

countries, including Mexico and the Philippines, have already begun denying entry to U.S. citizens who have been convicted 

of sex crimes. The maximum punishments for sexual assault offenses specified in UCMJ, Appendix 12, are as follows:

Rape Dishonorable discharge, confinement for life without eligibility for parole, 

forfeiture of all pay and allowances

Sexual Assault Dishonorable discharge, confinement for 30 years, forfeiture of all pay and 

allowances

Forcible Sodomy (Article 125, MCM) Dishonorable discharge, confinement for life without eligibility for parole, 

forfeiture of all pay and allowances

Aggravated Sexual Contact Dishonorable discharge, confinement for 20 years, forfeiture of all pay and 

allowances

Abusive Sexual Contact Dishonorable discharge, confinement for 7 years, forfeiture of all pay and 

allowances
56

REPORT ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

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REPORT ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

Recommendation 4: The Subcommittee recommends that the military Services permit only a 

defense counsel with prior military justice or civilian criminal litigation experience to serve as lead 

defense counsel in a sexual assault case. The military Services should develop a formal process, 

using objective and subjective criteria, to determine when a defense counsel is qualified to serve 

as a lead defense counsel in a sexual assault case. In addition, the military Services should set the 

minimum tour length for defense counsel at two years or more, except when a lesser tour length 

is approved by the Service Judge Advocate General or Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant 

of the Marine Corps.

IV. CONCLUSION

There have been numerous changes to law and policy in the arena of military sexual assault litigation 

in recent years that have serious implications for the quality of defense afforded to those accused of 

sexual assault. These include the introduction of special victims’ counsel/victims’ legal counsel for 

sexual assault victims, development of a Special Victim Investigation and Prosecution capability, and 

introduction of a less robust Article 32, UCMJ, process that no longer serves as a discovery vehicle for 

defense counsel. Many of these changes were instituted with the worthy goal of benefiting victims of 

sexual assault, but it is important that the military justice system continue to respect the rights of the 

accused. In order to maintain balance in the military justice system, (1) Service defense organizations 

must be adequately funded and staffed, as is reportedly not the case in all of the Services; (2) defense 

counsel must have access to an independent funding source for expert witnesses and consultants; and 

(3) those serving as defense counsel in sexual assault cases must be experienced attorneys.
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APPENDIX D: SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT TO THE JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL ON 

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Dates Installations Represented Subcommittee Members

July 11–12, 2016 Naval Station Norfolk, VA49

Joint Base Langley-Eustis, VA

Hon. Elizabeth Holtzman

Dean Lisa Schenck

BGen (R) James Schwenk

July 27–28, 2016 Fort Carson, CO

Peterson Air Force Base, CO

Schriever Air Force Base, CO

U.S. Air Force Academy, CO

Ms. Lisa Friel

Ms. Laurie Kepros

Professor Lee Schinasi

Ms. Jill Wine-Banks

August 1–2, 2016 Fort Bragg, NC

Camp Lejeune, NC

Ms. Laurie Kepros

Professor Lee Schinasi

BGen (R) James Schwenk

August 8–9, 2016 Naval Station San Diego, CA

Marine Corps Recruiting Depot San 

Diego, CA

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, CA

Camp Pendleton, CA

Hon. Barbara Jones

Ms. Laurie Kepros

Ms. Jill Wine-Banks

August 22–23, 2016 Marine Corps Base Quantico, VA

Joint Base Andrews, MD

U.S. Naval Academy, MD

Navy Yard, Washington, DC

Dean Lisa Schenck

BGen (R) James Schwenk

Ms. Jill Wine-Banks

September 12–14, 2016 Osan Air Base, South Korea

Camp Humphreys, South Korea

Camp Red Cloud, South Korea

Camp Casey, South Korea

U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan, 

South Korea

Camp Butler, Japan

Camp Zama, Japan

Kadena Air Base, Japan

Yokota Air Base, Japan

Hon. Elizabeth Holtzman

Ms. Jill Wine-Banks

49

49 Installations in bold type are the actual meeting locations for the site visits.

ENCLOSURE: Installation Site Visits Attended by Members of the JPP Subcommittee

ENCLOSURE Installation Site Visits 

Attended by Members of 

the JPP Subcommittee
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REPORT ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES
59

Judicial Proceedings Panel 

Staff Members and Designated 

Federal Officials

APPENDIX E:

JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS 

PANEL STAFF

Captain Tammy P. Tideswell, 

Judge Advocate General’s Corps,

U.S. Navy, Staff Director

Lieutenant Colonel Patricia H. Lewis, 

U.S. Army, Deputy Staff Director

Mr. Dale Trexler, Chief of Staff

Ms. Julie Carson, Attorney

Dr. Janice Chayt, Investigator

Dr. Alice Falk, Editor

Ms. Theresa Gallagher, Attorney

Ms. Nalini Gupta, Attorney

Ms. Amanda Hagy, Senior Paralegal

Ms. Laurel Prucha Moran, 

Graphic Designer

Ms. Meghan Peters, Attorney

Ms. Stayce Rozell, Senior Paralegal

Ms. Terri A. Saunders, 

Attorney and Lead Report Writer

Ms. Tiffany M. Williams, 

Supervising Paralegal

DESIGNATED FEDERAL 

OFFICIALS

Ms. Maria Fried, 

Associate Deputy General Counsel 

(Personnel and Health Policy),

U.S. Department of Defense, 

Designated Federal Official

Mr. William Sprance, 

Associate Deputy General Counsel 

(Personnel and Health Policy), 

U.S. Department of Defense,

Alternate Designated Federal Official

Lieutenant Colonel Jacqueline M. Stingl, 

Judge Advocate General’s Corps, 

U.S. Air Force, Associate Deputy General 

Counsel (Personnel and Health Policy),

U.S. Department of Defense,

Alternate Designated Federal Official

Mr. Dwight Sullivan,

Senior Associate Deputy General Counsel 

(Military Justice and Personnel Policy),

U.S. Department of Defense,

Alternate Designated Federal Official

I. Introduction

61

APPENDIX F: Acronyms and Abbreviations

FY fiscal year

JPP Judicial Proceedings Since Fiscal Year 2012 

Amendments Panel (Judicial Proceedings Panel)

JSC Joint Service Committee on Military Justice

MCIO military criminal investigative organization

MCM Manual for Courts-Martial

NDAA National Defense Authorization Act

R.C.M. Rules for Courts-Martial 

RFI request for information

RSP Response Systems to Adult Sexual Assault 

Crimes Panel (Response Systems Panel)

SecDef Secretary of Defense

SVC special victims’ counsel

UCMJ Uniform Code of Military Justice

U.S.C. United States Code

VLC victims’ legal counsel

I. Introduction

63

APPENDIX G: Sources Consulted

1. LEGISLATIVE SOURCES

Enacted Statutes

10 U.S.C. §§ 801-946 (Uniform Code of Military Justice)

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014, Pub. L. No. 113-66, 127 Stat. 672 (2013)

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, Pub. L. No. 113-291, 128 Stat. 3292 (2014)

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016, Pub. L. No. 114-92, 129 Stat. 726 (2015)

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, Pub. L. No. 114-328, 130 Stat. 2000 (2016)

2. JUDICIAL DECISIONS

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces

United States v. Warner, 62 M.J. 114 (2005)

3. RULES AND REGULATIONS

Executive Orders

Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2016), available at http://jsc.defense.gov/Portals/99/

Documents/MCM2016.pdf?ver=2016-12-08-181411-957

4. MEETINGS

Public Meetings of the Judicial Proceedings Panel 

Transcript of JPP Public Meeting (May 13, 2016), available at 

http://jpp.whs.mil/Public/docs/05-Transcripts/20160513_Transcript_Final.pdf

Transcript of JPP Public Meeting (December 9, 2016), available at

http://jpp.whs.mil/Public/docs/05-Transcripts/20161209_Transcript_Final.pdf

Transcript of JPP Public Meeting (January 6, 2017), available at

http://jpp.whs.mil/Public/docs/05-Transcripts/20170106_Transcript_Final.pdf

Transcript of JPP Public Meeting (February 24, 2017), available at

http://jpp.whs.mil/Public/docs/05-Transcripts/20170224_Transcript_Final.pdf

I. Introduction
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REPORT ON MILITARY DEFENSE COUNSEL RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCE IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES

5. OFFICIAL REPORTS

a. Report of the Response Systems to Adult Sexual Assault Crimes Panel 

Report of the Response Systems to Adult Sexual Assault Crimes Panel (June 2014), available at

http://responsesystemspanel.whs.mil/Public/docs/Reports/00_Final/RSP_Report_Final_20140627.pdf

b. Reports of the Subcommittee of the Judicial Proceedings Since Fiscal Year 2012 Amendments Panel

Subcommittee of the Judicial Proceedings Panel Report on Military Defense Counsel Resources

and Experience in Sexual Assault Cases (December 2016), available at http://jpp.whs.mil/Public/

docs/08-Panel_Reports/JPP_SubcommReport_DefResources_Final_20161208.pdf

Subcommittee of the Judicial Proceedings Panel Report on Sexual Assault Investigations in the

Military (February 2017), available at http://jpp.whs.mil/Public/docs/08-Panel_Reports/

JPP_SubcommReport_Investigations_Final_20170224.pdf

6. RESPONSES TO JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS PANEL REQUESTS FOR 

INFORMATION

Army’s Response to Request for Information 160 (January 4, 2017)

Navy’s Response to Request for Information 160 (December 29, 2016)

Marine Corps’ Response to Request for Information 160 (January 3, 2017)

Air Force’s Response to Request for Information 160 (December 30, 2016)

Coast Guard’s Response to Request for Information 160 (January 3, 2017)

7. MEMORANDA

U.S. Dep’t of Def., Memorandum from the Secretary of Defense on Implementation of the 

Recommendations of the Response Systems to Adult Sexual Assault Crimes Panel 

(December 15, 2014)