New Action and Second Chance at Clemency

ACCA agreed, in part, with Josh's supplemental brief and oral argument that the Staff Judge Advocate provided the wrong legal advice, and the client was entitled to a new action, and renewed chance at clemency. The opinion is more interesting for the sections of the opinion that ACCA rejected, however. There is a long discussion on Elonis’ reach to Article 120, which was finally resolved by CAAF in McDonald, where CAAF ruled the mens rea for sexual assault by bodily harm is “general intent.” As Josh discussed in a blog post at Global Military Justice Reform, there are potential issues with CAAF’s analysis of certain military crimes as being “general intent” crimes, in the Supreme Court’s Elonis framework. But SCOTUS has not taken up any of these petitions when Appellants have challenged CAAF’s framework.

Read the ACCA's official opinion here.