In February, GW Law hosted The United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals for an oral argument and question and answer session with students. Military criminal appellate courts have held oral argument hearings at the law school annually since 2009.
The court, which reviews certain courts-martial convictions of Army personnel, heard arguments in the case of United States v. Medrano. The petitioner, Private First Class Erick A. Medrano, was convicted by a panel (military jury), of one specification of damaging non-military property, one specification of drunk and disorderly conduct, and one specification of attempted voluntary manslaughter. On appeal, he requested a new trial based on the conduct of a panel member who did not disclose during voir dire that he had assaulted his wife.
Current JAG officers argued the case before a bench that included Senior Judge (COL) Michael E. Mulligan, the former Army prosecutor who tried the Hasan case at Fort Hood and has served as a guest lecturer in Associate Dean Lisa M. Schenck's Military Justice course; Associate Judge (COL) James W. Herring, Jr., who earned an LLM at GW Law; and Associate Judge (LTC) Paulette V. Burton.
After the arguments concluded, students in the audience had the chance to ask questions of the judges and other Army officers in attendance. Students asked about everything from the judges' career paths to how the counsel prepare for cases. To the latter question, all of the officers in attendance emphasized practice. "None of us are as good spontaneously, so practice, practice, practice," Senior Judge Mulligan said.
Reflecting on the experience, Racquel Muindi, a 3L who has been selected to join the Army JAG Corps within the next year expressed excitement. "The biggest thing for me is that even though you don't say anything, you still get to participate in the judicial process and hear these really impressive judges and counsel come and present their arguments and ultimately issue an opinion that you can say 'I was there for the oral argument. I was there, and I heard the judges ask questions.' I think it's a unique opportunity, and I'm so grateful that they came."