If you or a loved one received an Other Than Honorable Discharge from the military, your chances of receiving any benefits from the VA were next to zero—until now.  After a rule change announced by the VA this week, veterans will be considered for VA care and services under a “compelling circumstances exception,” if they can show that mental health problems, cognitive impairment, combat-related hardship, military sexual trauma or other identified factors contributed to their dismissal. Veterans’ length of service and overall performance during military duty also will be considered. This w ..read more

Your Military Career in Jeopardy Imagine you’re a service member or the loved one of a servicemember. Imagine you have over a decade of active duty, a family depending on your salary and military healthcare, a Top-Secret clearance, and were very close to making Chief and moving on with a successful career. Facing an Unjust NJP and Discharge Imagine that you provide a urine sample for a random drug test, just as you’ve done so many times before. Imagine now that, despite your having never knowingly ingested a drug, the test result comes back POSITIVE for marijuana! Suddenly, your world is colla ..read more

Decision on whether to charge service members with several felonies, including sexual assault, are no longer up to unit commanders – independent offices of special counsel for each brand of the military are up and running, the Pentagon announced Thursday. The change was mandated by law in 2021 after veterans and victim advocates testified that commanders failed to act on sexual assault reports too often.  The special counsel offices are staffed with specially trained military prosecutors, as well as militray and civilian support staff.  Source The post Military commanders no long ..read more

In the view of retired Navy Capt. Don King, of King Military Law, which represented London in the appeal, the Marine Corps, never should have sent London to a general court-martial. Source The post Manslaughter conviction of Marine reservist overturned on appeal first appeared on King Military Law ..read more

In a startling turn of events, the Secretary of the Army recently fired the Army’s very first leader of the Army’s new “independent” prosecution office. The decision, attributed to a decade-old email criticizing the handling of a sexual assault case, raises significant concerns about the purported independence of military attorneys.  The Background The saga began in 2013 when then Lieutenant Colonel W. Wells, serving as a supervising military defense attorney, expressed concerns about the fairness of the investigation of a sexual assault allegation in Japan. The Commander responsible f ..read more

Don King of King Military Law recently met with a client at the Camp Pendleton Jail. After a court-martial conviction, the client’s family hired Don to handle their son’s military appeal. This encounter prompted Don to create a video to emphasize the significance of the appeal process in military cases. Most people don’t understand it and underestimate its importance, but it offers a real chance for some remedy, ranging from reduced sentences to a new trial and even having the client found not guilty at the appellate level. In this video, Don, who twice served as a Senior Judge on the Navy an ..read more

The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces previously ruled in a 5-0 decision that service members are not entitled to unanimous verdicts, a right guaranteed to every citizen under the Constitution. As a result, military members may be convicted and prisoned even though a portion of the jury believed the member to be not guilty. The military criminal justice system only requires that three-quarters of a jury vote for guilt for the military member to be found guilty. This issue is now ripe for Supreme Court review and Air Force Master Sgt. Anthony Anderson has petitioned the Supreme Court to do ..read more

Being falsely accused of a military crime can be a daunting and distressing experience. When asked to provide information about the allegations to law enforcement, remaining silent is typically the best course of action. However, there are rare instances where speaking with law enforcement can actually work in your favor. The Importance of Legal Representation Before even thinking about speaking to law enforcement or your command, you should ALWAYS talk to an experienced attorney first. Never attempt to navigate these types of situations alone. A lawyer skilled and experienced in military law ..read more

The Air Force has announced its intention to review the cases of former Airmen who claim they were unfairly discharged due to mental health conditions or being victims of sexual assault or harassment. These individuals received other-than-honorable discharges, which significantly  impact their post-service benefits and civilian prospects. The proposed settlement in Johnson v. Kendall, a class-action lawsuit, highlights the importance of rectifying unjust discharges that result from mental health conditions and traumatic experiences. These discharges deprived veterans of access to vital b ..read more

The Pentagon has initiated a significant effort to reevaluate the discharges of thousands of LGBTQ+ veterans who were separated from service under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy due to their sexual orientation. The Pentagon’s proactive review of LGBTQ+ veterans’ discharges is a crucial step towards rectifying the injustices of the past. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was a policy that prohibited LGBTQ+ service members from openly expressing their sexual orientation, resulting in thousands of less than honorable discharges. These discharges had severe consequences, affecting veterans’ job prospec ..read more