Photo By Iain Jaramillo | Capt. Luke Holmen, New Mexico Army National Guard chief of justice, reviews his notes...... read more read more
SANTA FE, N.M. -- The accused and his counsel stand, exhausted after hours spent listening to testimony and arguing their case. The room is silent except for the president of the court-martial panel.
“This court-martial finds you, of the charge and specification, guilty,” read Maj. Kevin Dent, New Mexico National Guard Joint Forces Headquarters chief of administrative law.
The prosecution celebrates their first victory—only briefly—as they begin to prepare their notes for sentencing.
Soldiers and Airmen from the NMNG and the U.S. Army Reserve’s 117th Legal Operations Detachment witnessed this scene during a mock trial hosted at the 515th Regional Training Institute here April 29, 2021.
“It’s familiarization for people who have never conducted a court-martial before,” Dent said. “This is intended to be a first step for us as an organization. Everyone here has litigation experience in the civilian world. This takes that expertise that they’ve already got and applies it to the military justice model.”
The simulated court case played out in real-time, allowing the military legal community a chance to participate in a rare, but necessary, part of the military justice system, said Dent.
Dent has spent months preparing the mock trial, from carefully considering the right kind of case to present to preparing scripts and fact sheets for the simulated witnesses.
“You essentially build a story and then build characters off of that story,” Dent said. “Since we’re giving people background and stories instead of lines, it allows counsel to develop and ask their own questions and for witnesses to answer based on the information they’ve been given.”
The simulated legal counsel was given a chance to prepare for the case as they would any other, but it took some time to review the nuances of military justice, said Capt. Zach Jones, 111th Sustainment Brigade deputy staff judge advocate, who participated on the prosecuting side.
“We were sort of learning on the fly, but by and large we were applying what we’ve learned in our civilian lives to this arena,” Jones said. “We treated the exercise like it was a real case with real consequences, and we all benefited because of it.”
The prosecution was quick to praise the opposition.
“The defense acted like it was a serious exercise and never broke character,” Jones said. “Even though the scenario led to a guilty verdict, they made a very compelling argument.”
“It’s fun to get up there and argue and battle with the other side,” said Capt. Clinton Dow, from the 245th Trial Defense Team, representing the defense. “It’s so much fun to get into this and to stretch our wings. It helps you be that much more prepared to represent somebody in real life.”
Despite the Army-centric nature of the training scenario, members of the Air National Guard also walked away with a greater appreciation of military justice.
“This is a great refresher, and it allowed us to get closer to our Army counterparts,” said Airman 1st Class Estevan Najera, a paralegal from the 150th Special Operations Wing, who played a witness during the mock trial. “It has been surprisingly engaging. We’ve really gone through all of the hoops.”
For all his work developing and administering the mock trial, Dent was coined by Maj. Gen. Kenneth Nava, the adjutant general of New Mexico, who observed part of the training.
“I’m very proud of all of you,” Nava told the training participants. “This is a huge step in the evolution of the New Mexico National Guard. I don’t want us to be afraid of this tool in our legal toolbox. Thank you so much for your effort.”
Col. George Kraehe, the NMNG state staff judge advocate, shared Nava’s appreciation for the training and participants.
“We can rest assured that we are a very well-equipped legal section,” Kraehe said. “There is absolutely no task that we cannot perform. My confidence in this group has gone through the roof, and I’m glad that TAG was able to see you all in action. I’ve never seen him happier.”
| Date Taken: | 04.29.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 05.01.2021 14:10 |
| Story ID: | 395351 |
| Location: | SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO, US |
| Web Views: | 168 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NM judge advocates host joint mock trial, by Iain Jaramillo, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
