Military Justice Today

This case study episode follows one officer’s year-long fight to clear his name. After a night out during a career course, a fellow officer accused him of touching her while she slept. Dan Higgins explains why the defense argued she was blacked out rather than asleep. He covers what alcohol does to memory and how that distinction carried the day when a Board of Inquiry found the sexual assault allegation unsupported.

The Lindsay Clancy murder trial ended in a mistrial after a single juror refused to join the other eleven in finding her not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility. In a court-martial, that same 11–1 split would have produced a final verdict, not a mistrial.In this solo episode, Capovilla & Williams partner Dan Higgins breaks down the Clancy case: the competing expert testimony on postpartum psychosis, the defense’s focus on mental responsibility, and the jurors’ accounts of what happened in the deliberation room. He then connects it to military justice, explaining why the military doesn’t require unanimous verdicts, how Article 52 of the UCMJ sets the three-fourths threshold to convict, why courts have held that the Sixth Amendment jury right doesn’t apply to courts-martial, and why he, as a defense attorney, sees an unexpected advantage in the current system.

In this episode of MJT, Partner Dan Higgins talks with fellow founding partner and former 75th Ranger Regiment member Mickey Williams about the hardest schools in the military. They rank Ranger School, Special Forces Assessment and Selection, Sniper School, and Airborne School by misery, difficulty, and danger — trading firsthand stories from Rap Week, the Star Course, a record shoot gone sideways, and two close calls under canopy. A candid, occasionally harrowing look at what it actually takes to earn some of the military's toughest tabs.

In this episode of MJT, Partner Dan Higgins talks with fellow founding partner Mickey Williams about a court-martial they tried together — an attempted murder case that ended in a full acquittal. They walk through the case from the initial incident through trial strategy, the self-defense legal standard and how it's judged through the accused's eyes, a cross-examination that unraveled the alleged victim's credibility, and the verdict that followed. A candid look at what it takes to win a case where a client's freedom is entirely on the line. 

In this episode of MJT, Partner Dan Higgins interviews Founding Partner Mickey Williams about six months into the war with Iran, covering the century of U.S.-Iran history behind the conflict, the technology reshaping modern warfare, the strategic questions facing the current administration, and what it all means for the troops still forward-deployed.

In this episode of MJT, trial attorneys Robert Capovilla and Dan Higgins discuss domestic violence cases in the military.  Topics include how cases are prosecuted and defended under the current system, the impact of false allegations, and the biggest mistakes defendants make when facing charges. 

In this episode of MJT, military trial attorneys Robert Capovilla and Lacey Parham discuss the impact OSTC has had on the court-martial process.  Topics include the volume of cases, conviction rates, plea agreements, prosecution and defense counsel strategies, and other related issues.

In this episode of MJT, attorney Robert Capovilla interviews former Army CID and current private investigator Kevin Bickford about a wide range of topics including the CID investigation process, preserving evidence, alleged victim and accused interview techniques, and why an independent investigation is critical for an effective defense. 

In this episode of MJT, Capovilla & Williams partners Robert Capovilla and Dan Higgins discuss Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) fraud cases in the military. Topics include conduct that can get service members in trouble, how prosecutors typically bring charges, and proven strategies employed by defense attorneys to produce positive outcomes.

In this episode of MJT, former Marine Corps trial attorney and Capovilla & Williams lawyer Dominic Giordano discusses the Marine Corps justice system, including topics such as pre-trial confinement, hazing and maltreatment, and keys to winning court-martial cases.