Illinois Administrative Code › Title 95 - VETERANS AND MILITARY AFFAIRS › Part 400 - ILLINOIS MANUAL FOR COURT-MARTIAL AND NONJUDICIAL PUNISHMENT › Subpart G - TRIAL PROCEDURES › Section 400.875 - Voting By the Court-Martial

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a)
				Voting and Ruling
1)
Voting by members
				of a general or special court-martial on the findings and on the sentence shall
				be by secret written ballot. The junior member of the court shall count the
				votes. The count shall be checked by the president, who shall forthwith
				announce the result of the ballot to the members of the
				court
.
2)
The
				military judge shall rule upon all questions of law and all interlocutory
				questions arising during the proceedings. Any such ruling made by the military
				judge upon any question of law or any interlocutory question other than the
				factual issue of mental responsibility of the accused is final and constitutes
				the ruling of the court. However, the military judge may change the ruling at
				any time during the trial. Unless the ruling is final, if any member objects to
				the ruling, the court shall be cleared and closed and the question decided by a
				voice vote as provided in Code Section 52,
beginning with the
				junior in rank.
3)
Before a vote is taken on the findings, the military judge shall, in
				the presence of the accused and counsel, instruct the members of the court as
				to the elements of the offense and charge them that:
A)
the accused must be presumed to be
				innocent until his or her guilt is established by legal and competent evidence
				beyond reasonable doubt;
B)
in the case being considered, if
				there is a reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the accused, the doubt must be
				resolved in favor of the accused and the accused must be
				acquitted;
C)
if
				there is a reasonable doubt as to the degree of guilt, the finding must be in a
				lower degree as to which there is no reasonable doubt; and
D)
the burden of proof to establish
				the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt is upon the
				State
.
4)
Subsections
(a)(1), (2) and (3)
do not apply to a
				court-martial composed of a military judge only. The military judge of such a
				court-martial shall determine all questions of law and fact arising during the
				proceedings and, if the accused is convicted, adjudge an appropriate sentence.
				The military judge of such a court-martial shall make a general finding and
				shall in addition, on request,
make special findings as provided in
				RCM 918(b)
. If an opinion or memorandum of decision is filed, it will
				be sufficient if the findings of fact appear in that document.
(Code
				Section 51) The military judge may give any instructions necessary to clarify
				the members' questions after the conclusions of evidence, or to decline to
				answer any question in the event that response implicates inadmissible
				evidence.
5) Included Offenses.
				Members shall not vote on a lesser included offense unless a finding of not
				guilty of the offense charged has been reached. If a finding of not guilty of
				an offense charged has been reached, the members shall vote on each included
				offense on which they have been instructed, in order of severity beginning with
				the most severe. The members shall continue the vote on each included offense
				on which they have been instructed until a finding of guilty results or
				findings of not guilty have been reached as to each offense.