Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 41 - MILITARY FORCES OF THE STATE › Part II - Military Justice › Chapter 5 - Pretrial Procedures › Section II-509 - Preparation of the Charge Sheet

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A.
				General. In preparing charges for trial by courts-martial, the unit commander
				will use the current DD Form 458, Charge Sheet. Detailed instructions for
				completing the Charge Sheet may be found at R.C.M. 307 and at Figure 5-8 of
				this Regulation. An example of a completed Charge Sheet is located at Figure
				5-7 any person subject to the LCMJ may prefer charges, but trial counsel should
				always draft or review charges before they are preferred. While the unit
				commander is responsible for the preparation of the Charge Sheet, there is no
				legal requirement that he do it personally. He should, however, supervise its
				prompt and proper preparation and forwarding. Once the charge and specification
				has been prepared and signed under oath, it is a public record, and other than
				minor administrative changes, should not be altered, except upon the advice of
				a judge advocate. For minor administrative or typographical corrections, the
				officer making same should initial in the margin the correction.
B. Timeliness. When the Unit Commander has
				made the decision to prefer court-martial charges and to recommend trial by
				courts-martial, he should promptly dispose of the matter. It is longstanding
				military policy, both in the active forces and in the National Guard that
				military justice be given priority.
C. Personal Data. Section I of the Charge
				Sheet is personal data concerning the accused. This information is generally
				found in the accused's personnel file. The unit commander should have reviewed
				this personnel file before making his decision on disposition of the offense
				during his preliminary investigation. The accused's "grade or rank" (Block 3)
				is his military title (such as PFC) and his "pay grade" (Block 4) is his
				numerical designation (such as E-3). The initial date of the accused's current
				service is the date of his latest enlistment (Block 6). Paragraph 7 "Pay per
				Month" is the normal MUTA-4 pay which the accused would receive for one month
				to be inserted in the "basic" block. Louisiana National Service members do not
				receive "sea or foreign duty pay". Block 8, entitled "nature of restraint of
				accused" should show all types of restraint imposed, and block 9 should show
				the corresponding duration (inclusive dates) of the restraint and any
				changes.
D. Charges and
				Specifications
1. General. Section II of the
				Charge Sheet is the section for charges and specifications. This is the most
				important part of the Charge Sheet. The "charge" indicates the section of the
				Louisiana Code of Military Justice violated. Since DD Form 458, Charge Sheet,
				is a federal form, the reference in Section II to a "violation of the UCMJ,
				Article __" should be changed to "violation of the Louisiana Code of Military
				Justice, Article __." The "specification," which is under the charge, must be
				written so that it clearly advises the accused of the date, time, place and
				circumstances of the alleged offense against him. The specification states the
				facts and circumstances which constitute a violation of the particular section
				of the LCMJ alleged to be violated. Neither the misdesignation of an article
				nor the failure to designate any article is ordinarily material so long as the
				specification alleges an offense over which courts-martial have jurisdiction.
				If there is only one charge, it is not numbered. When there is more than one
				charge, each is numbered with a Roman numeral. [R.C.M. 307(c).]
2. Elements of the Offense. Part IV of the
				Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, lists each essential element of all
				equivalent punitive Articles in the LCMJ. It is imperative that commanders
				familiarize themselves with the contents of these materials. The Unit Commander
				should refer to one of these references for a discussion of "proof" and an
				outline of the "elements of the offense." This will help the Commander to
				recognize criminal conduct and in drafting a clear, complete specification.
				When the specification is written, the Commander should be able to find each of
				the discussed "elements" in the specification.
3. Legal Advice. The unit commander should
				not alter the words in a model specification without legal advice from a Judge
				Advocate. If he, or his legal clerk, has any questions in the selection or
				drafting of a specification, he should contact the Staff Judge Advocate of his
				Direct Reporting Unit.