DISCLAIMER: THE FOLLOWING RESULTS ARE UNIQUE TO THE SPECIFIC CASE FACTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL CLIENTS INVOLVED. INDIVIDUAL CASES HAVE SEVERAL UNIQUE FACTS THAT CAN DETERMINE THE OUTCOME. YOUR CASE OUTCOME MAY BE DIFFERENT THAN THOSE REPRESENTED HERE. THE LAW FIRM OF PUCKETT & FARAJ, PC DOES NOT GUARANTEE OR PREDICT SIMILAR RESULTS FOR ANY CASE WE UNDERTAKE.

Won Appeal of IRR Activation Exemption

A young computer specialist, with a great job in New York state, was notified of his activation from the Army Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) last year. He sent in a request for exemption and was denied. He contacted Puckett & Faraj, PC with only a few days remaining to appeal the exemption decision and asked if we could help him. In these troubled economic times and with a wife without a driver’s license and young child without extended family support, active duty service at half his current salary would mean hardship for the family. The Army regulations required that any appeal provide new information not provided in the exemption request or appeals would not be considered. Additionally, the appeal process must be completed in a specific time period dictated by the Army, usually within a 30-day limit. Puckett & Faraj, PC reviewed the original package, and put together new information including third party affidavits to clearly define the hardship his family would suffer if he was activated and deployed for year. The Army approved his appeal based on the information provided in the appeal package.

Special Courts-Martial Over a Parking Lot Incident

Our client, a young female Naval Officer, was charged with making a false official statement, making a false civilian criminal complaint, conduct unbecoming an officer and damage to personal property. This all as a result of a verbal altercation in a public parking lot with a Marine Lt Col lawyer, when our client unintentionally slowed his own progress through the lot one morning on his way to work. Though dressed in civilian clothes, he approached our client to “adjust her attitude.” Oddly, though, she hadn’t done anything wrong. He just saw her wearing a Navy uniform with LTjg rank insignia and decided to walk over and dress her down as they both made their way to the bus stop. She reported the incident to the local police. Then later he accused her of swearing at him, filing a false complaint in civilian court, and damaging his vehicle. She was asked to accept non-judicial punishment and refused. At her court-martial, Mr. Puckett won a full acquittal for her on all charges. Her career is now back on track and the Marine LtCol lawyer, whose testimony was not believed by the military jury, was defeated in his effort to abuse the military justice process for his own private concerns over parking lot etiquette.

Marine SSgt Cleared of Indecent Acts with a Minor

Innocent or Indecent in Okinawa? After a teenager told a seemingly convincing story accusing our client, a Marine SSgt, of indecent acts and indecent language, we won a complete acquittal at his general court-martial in Okinawa. Following her underage drinking and other inappropriate behavior, our client had told the accuser that he was going to have to tell her father about her serious misconduct the next day. She dealt with that by running home in the middle of the night and reporting that our client had touched her inappropriately. With the help of internet research into the teenager’s MySpace account postings where she misrepresented her age and identity, we convinced a 5-member military jury to acquit our client after only a half an hour of deliberation. The SSgt’s first reaction to hearing the verdict was to ask whether he could finally deploy to Iraq, after being forced to miss a prior deployment due to his pending court-martial.

Marine Drill Instructor Cleared of Manslaughter

Our client, a highly trained Drill Instructor/Combat Survival Swim Instructor, was accused of involuntary manslaughter through recklessness after the unfortunate death of a drill instructor trainee. We conducted our own investigation to present the case that the training had been run in a similar manner for over ten years and that our client was merely following the syllabus. The general court-martial found him Not Guilty after we displayed an approved 6×4-foot poster designed by the Marine Corps expert instructor that showed that same expert preparing to dunk a trainee from behind and declaring in large red letters, “Swim or Die!”

Military Service Member Cleared of Rape

Date or Date Rape? Although our client gave a full, sworn, written confession and apology, he was fully acquitted at a general court-martial of raping a fellow biomedical trainee on a date. We discovered that the military investigator had incorrectly advised our client of the definition of rape, causing him erroneously to believe that he had committed the crime. After careful review of phone records of the accuser, we were able to present evidence of texting between them later that night. We were also able to show the close, unauthorized, continuing relationship she had at the time with a senior NCO, who pressured her to falsely report the date as a rape a full four months later.

Airman Cleared of Rape

Our client, an Airman deployed to Iraq, had sexual relations with a female Airman in a bunker near their quarters one evening. The female Airman, who had taken Ambien to help her sleep, then claimed that she had been raped because she had no memory of the event. We presented the testimony of an Air Force psychiatrist to prove that Ambien produces short-term memory loss. The general court-martial acquitted our client of rape, but found him guilty of indent acts, since anyone could have walked into the bunker during their sexual encounter (even though no one did). After the trial, we convinced the Wing Commander to disapprove the court-martial conviction and take the case to Article 15 non-judicial punishment. Our client finished his enlistment honorably with no federal conviction.

Marine Accused of Dealing Drugs Cleared

A Marine Sgt was accused by three convicted Marine drug abusers of providing them with drugs. Despite the absence of any urinalysis or other corroborating evidence, the Marine Corps charged him with drug distribution. We produced evidence that all three druggies had been disciplined by our client and were simply trying to get reduced sentences in exchange for their testimony. We also brought in a two-star general and other officers to testify as to his outstanding character and prior performance of duty. He was acquitted, went on to become a successful drill instructor and is now a GySgt working in a sensitive position at Marine Corps Headquarters, Washington, DC.

Army SGT Not Guilty of Vehicular Manslaughter in Iraq

Accident or Vehicular Manslaughter? Our client, an Army SGT at the end of his tour in Iraq, drank with his friends and later drove his Humvee to take a fellow soldier back to her post. She did not return to her post, choosing to stay in the vehicle, but somehow on the return to the base fell out of the Humvee and was crushed to death by its back tire. Although the SGT pled guilty and was convicted of DUI, he was acquitted by the general court-martial of the manslaughter charge and given a light sentence. Army prosecutors were convinced that they could prove that our client caused the death simply because he was driving drunk, but we were able prove the absence of evidence of causation. The Army simply could not prove how or why anything our client did caused the soldier to be ejected from the Humvee.

Marine GySgt Not Guilty of Drug Possession

Recruiter or Drug Dealer? Our client was an award winning recruiter and Marine GySgt in whose office was found his helmet bag containing marijuana residue. The recruiting command conducted an illegal search and seizure and so was unable to prosecute the case at non-judicial punishment (NJP) or a court-martial. We located the email in which the prosecutor advised the command they could not prosecute but would find it easier just to take it to an administrative discharge board and throw him out with an other than honorable discharge. We convinced the board that due to his outstanding character and clean record, that he could not have been involved with drugs. The board found no misconduct had occurred and closed the case. Our client’s is back on track.

Air Force Student Pilot Acquitted of Dereliction of Duty

Cheater or Leader? An Air Force basic jet pilot training class leader was accused of dereliction of duty and conduct unbecoming an officer for destroying and ordering others to destroy unauthorized copies of quizzes that had been anonymously emailed to all of them. After independently discovering the facts from all witnesses, we determined that our client was clearly attempting to keep others from being accused of cheating if they retained the contraband emails. We were able to show that he courageously took the initiative to protect his classmates. The Article 32 officer recommended no general court-martial and follow-up efforts succeeded in getting our client back into pilot training, which the Wing Commander had previously said he would never allow.

Navy LCDR’s Career Saved from Board of Inquiry

Go Ashore or Continue to Serve? A Navy LCDR and operations officer of his squadron was disciplined at Admiral’s Mast for having had an affair with the wife of a subordinate officer in his squadron while the subordinate office was deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom. It was the most aggravated and damning set of facts involving adultery that we could have imagined. We convinced his board of inquiry (show-cause hearing) to retain him in the Navy and allow him to retire based on his wife’s active volunteer service to Navy organizations and communities worldwide. The board agreed with our case that she should not be deprived of her opportunity to continue to serve and help him earn “their” retirement, despite the fact that she was a civilian.

Marine GySgt’s Reduce Sentence for Embezzlement

Gambler or Thief? While performing duties as the U.S. Postal NCO in Okinawa, our Marine GySgt client became chronically addicted to gambling. Running short of her own funds, she “borrowed” postal funds under her control hoping to win and replace them. $23,000 and a few months later, she was caught, charged with embezzlement and sent to a general court-martial. She was able to borrow money to repay the postal service, but the prosecutor asked the jury to give her a 15-year sentence. We presented the testimony of a psychologist who had studied gambling addiction and convinced the members of her court-martial to sentence her to only three months in jail.

Army SGT Not Guilty of Vehicular Manslaughter in Iraq

Negligent Killer or Scapegoat? Our client, a Marine SSgt and assistant convoy commander in Iraq, prepared a night convoy for transit between bases at night. He delivered the manifest to the convoy commander and took up his position at the end of the convoy. During transit, a gunner in the convoy used escalation of force to engage a small white pickup truck he mistakenly took to be an intruder. In this case of friendly fire, the truck driver was killed, despite the fact that his vehicle was properly manifested in the convoy. Our client charged with involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide at a general court-martial for failing to call it to everyone’s attention among the tractor-trailer rigs. We won a full acquittal on manslaughter and homicide charges after proving our client had performed his assigned duties and the convoy commander had never been held accountable by the General officer who reviewed the investigation. Our client received no punishment.

Historic War Crimes Trials

Army LTC Stops Terrorist Attack in Iraq

Hero to His Men and His Country. After learning from intelligence sources that he and his men had been targeted by insurgents for assassination, an Army Battalion Commander took charge of a failed interrogation of a suspected Iraqi policeman. He fired his weapon in a mock execution, forcing the suspect to reveal the names of his fellow plotters. The Army nevertheless charged our client with assault with a deadly weapon. We conducted the Article 32 hearing in Tikrit, Iraq, and won a recommendation for no court-martial after our client testified he “would walk through hell with a gasoline can” if that’s what it took to bring his soldiers back alive. He was honorably retired as a Lieutenant Colonel with full retirement pay and benefits and is now a candidate for Congress. Service war colleges still use his case to teach battlefield ethics to senior officers.

Army General Officer Not Charged in Abu Ghraib

Abu Ghraib Prison Scandal. Our client, an Army Reserve General Officer and the Military Police Brigade Commander in charge of all prisons in Iraq, was unfairly targeted and then scapegoated by a high level Army investigation after photos of prisoner abuses came to light in the media. Through a carefully planned media campaign to set the record straight, she avoided any criminal charges in connection with the case. She retired, wrote a book, runs a successful consulting business and is invited to speak around the globe.

Army LT’s Charges for Murder In Iraq Dropped

Mercy Killing or Murder in Combat? Our client, a Lieutenant and Army Bradley vehicle platoon leader, was charged with two counts of premeditated murder after one SGT in his platoon killed a wounded Iraqi to “put him out of his misery” following a combat engagement. The SGT later claimed the LT had “OK’d” the mercy killing. A short time later, another of his SGTs executed an Iraqi detainee, “just to see what if felt like.” He later claimed the LT told him to do it. During an Article 32 hearing, the first SGT refused to testify, and the second said the LT had no prior knowledge and was not even present when he murdered the detainee. The Army dropped the murder charges.

Hamdaniyah, Iraq

One of the firm’s partners successfully defended a Marine Cpl accused of premeditated murder, kidnapping, assault, larceny and conspiracy in Iraq. His client had fully confessed to the crime, as had several other Marines in his unit, and had been in pretrial confinement for a year. Prosecutors believed they had an airtight case against his client. Rejecting a government offer to plead guilty, our partner took the case to trial and won an acquittal on the murder, kidnapping and assault charges. The client was only convicted of conspiracy and larceny of a shovel and was freed from confinement the same day.

Haditha, Iraq

Our current client, SSgt Frank Wuterich, still faces general court-martial charges from a day in November 2005, when 24 Iraqis were killed after an improvised explosive device (IED) killed a Marine at the start of a complex ambush. Through our joint civilian/military defense team efforts in an Article 32 investigation, the charges have been reduced from 18 counts of unpremeditated murder to nine counts of voluntary manslaughter. Our client told Scott Pelley about the unfortunate events on CBS 60 Minutes, which won CBS a coveted Peabody Award for that episode. The case has the most complex and intricate set of facts and evidence in the history of the military justice system. It is the most costly and largest investigation ever conducted by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). It has received far more media coverage than any U.S. war crimes allegations in American history. The trial will begin at the conclusion of several pending motions and appeals.