Woe.be.gone
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NO my son is being wrongfully accused of a crime now (not serious) a girl stalker who my son said harsh things to her in order to get her away from him. She went and said he did this or that....big lie and he can prove it but guess what, still going to trial. His commander backs him he just went to court...she never showed up, SA said...Oh she is on vacation. DOH! THen SA stated that the Military wants jurisdiction so he this is still in the works. Judge gave a continuance :banghead:
Yes Military will often times when active duty is charge want to carry the case over to the military side and in most cases it is granted to the Military.
First of all I'm sorry to hear your son is going through all of that.
My previous response was too simplistic as it's much more complicated than what I stated. There is a 'general' explanation and then there's what else can happen in certain cases. Here's what my old man just told me ~
~ If it's a civilian issue that doesn't involve another active duty military member, then the soldier is generally tried in civilian court.
~ Criminal issues not involving the military other than that the offender is an active duty military member, generally the military will allow the civilian criminal court to handle the case.
NOTE: If the case becomes politicized the military can exert jurisdiction over the civilian court.
NOTE: If more than one military member is involved in the case, the military usually steps in and takes jurisdiction.
~ The civililian court has avenues of appeal over jurisdiction issues. However, the final sayso is a senior military commander.
~ Non judicial punishment will almost always follow if a military member is found guilty and it can be career ending depending on the severity of the offense.
Let's say someone is a 19 yo Private 1st class who has made a mistake. His commander will want to get him out of the civil system and read him the riot act or defend him; maybe he'll get an article 15 and have part of his salary docked and warned not to repeat whatever it is he did if he is found guilty under the military system. The upside of this is that he'll have no criminal record. Once someone is an NCO or an Officer different rules apply -there is no mercy. In other words, the military gives young ones a chance and wants to shape them in a positive way.
My husband gave me an example:
Let's say we live off post and are active duty military and a Sargent breaks into our house and robs us. Husband is active duty and so is Sargent - the military will take charge (even though it's an off post incident).
If the Sargent breaks into our neighbor's house who are non military, usually the civilian system will handle the case. However, the dual consequences will apply as his commander will be informed.
~ Therefore, it's much more complicated than I previously made it seem and there seems to be no steadfast rules. What I mean is, a case similar to your son's could be handled differently in another place with another commander in charge.
I'm not trying to make this into a big deal but was curious as to why I thought the way I did so I asked my retired (Army) husband his beliefs/thoughts regarding the subject. There are guidelines but few concrete rules unless the incident takes place on post between two military personnel. Then the military system would handle the case.