Legal Question in Military Law in North Carolina

A military member has a positive urinalysis, requests court martial because the command has intentionally antagonized and harassed the active duty marine because he married someone they did not want him to. While preparing for this court martial the marine put in a request for leave. The leave was approved and he was sent on leave. He received a phone call 6 hours after, and he had arrived to the destination at this point. A SGT called to inform him they didn't mean to approve his leave. He said too bad and didn't hear from them again. While on leave his mother received a letter stating that his absence was illegal and that they were going to charge him as a deserter after 30 days. He would have never left the duty station if his leave was not approved. He is already being discharged and He WILL NOT return now. He knows the court martial will go on without him and and is trying to figure out how to receive his DD214 without being present to the military again. He has a lot of knowledge about the military and on multiple occasions has been wronged by specific commanders which is chargable under UCMJ article 138 he also knows he needs to protect his well being and himself against self incrimination under article 31 which is much like the US constitution's 5th ammendment. Violation of article 15 multiple times by the command and article 64 refusing religion specifically on two occasions for him. (REFUSED him the right to go to CREDO personal growth and marriage enrichment, in which theses groups were directly in range of his specific mental conflicts on both occasions that were 5 months seperate in occurance) He has been violated many times and is so angry with the actions that it would make the area a very intense and out of control atmosphere. Massive PTSD and is not a typical "troubled" marine. Always has gone over and beyond requirements to stand out in a positive manner. Many Awards. He is a very intelligent young man whom has served 3 years honorable serivice and 1 tour in Iraq. He is not going to be taken advantage of because he is of lesser rank than another human being in the USMC. The shop he worked in was over capacitated and the command was not using leadership principles to look out for their marines. They are only looking for trouble and create problems for their own enjoyment. It starts with the commanders... if the commanders are jacked up, then they cannot expect that the junior marines will be any better. This starts with the recruiters though, how can the Marine Corps, the ELITE, let a slip, such as no high school diploma or GED get in?? The faulty system has to work both ways.... What is my loophole?


Asked on 8/21/10, 10:34 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

William J. Holmes Attorney at Military Law

There is no easy answer to all of his problems, but the short answer is that he will not be discharged while he has pending a pending court-martial. These charges have to be resolved and he will have to go back to his unit to resolve them. The longer he is gone will only add ammunition to their claim that he deserted to avoid trial by court-martial. I know that was not his intention, but that is how they will portray it. A warrant will be issued for his arrest and anytime he is pulled over for speeding, a broken tail light, etc., he is subject to being arrested as a deserter, being confined in a jail pending trial and many other unpleasant things because he will be described as a deserter and a flight risk. Bottom line, he needs to return to his unit and work on getting these issues resolved the correct way.

He will need a good attorney who can work with him on all of these issues to get the best possible result. I will be happy to speak with you or him to answer any questions you may have. Please feel free to contact me at any time.

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Answered on 8/26/10, 11:46 am


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