Military Lawyer – Court Martial Lawyers
Call 1-866-969-9860 to speak with an experienced military lawyer or visit www.ucmjdefense.com
Michael Waddington is a military lawyer and court martial attorney defending military personnel worldwide. He defends Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, and civilian contractor court martial cases. He has defended court martial cases in the USA, Europe, the Middle East (Iraq, Kuwait. Bahrain, Afghanistan), and the Pacific (Korea, Hawaii, Japan). He also accepts clients that are suspected of crimes or under investigation. Mr. Waddington prefers to handle a select number of cases in order to dedicate his time to getting the best result possible for his clients.
Mr. Waddington has successfully defended numerous high profile court martial cases arising from the War on Terror and has been reported on and quoted by hundreds of major media sources worldwide. He has provided consultation services to 60 Minutes, ABC Nightline, CNN, CBS, the 2010 Golden Globe winning TV series “The Good Wife” and other various international media outlets.
Recent Court Martial Case Results
We invite you to compare our case results with ANY military lawyer worldwide, whether a civilian or military. We also provide references on request.
In a Court Martial, What Am I Up Against & Why Hire an Experienced Military Lawyer
In the military justice system, the Prosecution has numerous attorneys and paralegals working hard to put you in prison for as long as possible. The accused is often scared, overwhelmed, and feels helpless, and they should be. The deck is stacked against them. That is what the military wants. Defendants believe that they have no choice but to quickly plead guilty. PLEADING GUILTY SHOULD BE A LAST RESORT! YET, SOME MILITARY & CIVILIAN DEFENSE LAWYERS PLEAD ALL OF THEIR CLIENTS GUILTY, EVEN WHEN THEY HAVE A FIGHTING CHANCE OR THEY ARE INNOCENT.
-ASK YOUR PROSPECTIVE CIVILIAN OR MILITARY LAWYER TO DESCRIBE THE OUTCOMES OF THE LAST 12 CASES THEY DEFENDED. ASK HOW MANY OF THIER CLIENTS WERE ACQUITTED, HOW MANY WERE NOT DISCHARGED FROM THE MILITARY, & HOW MANY CASES THEY FOUGHT IN FRONT OF A JURY.
DON’T BECOME A STATISTIC, CAREFULLY SELECT YOUR MILITARY LAWYER
The military has a conviction rate over 90% and almost all convicted defendants are discharged from the military and/or sent to prison.
When you plead guilty, you have over a 95% chance of going to jail, getting a punitive discharge from the military, losing your rank, & you are GUARANTEED to be a Federal convict for the rest of your life. If you want to discuss fighting your case, call Mr. Waddington to discuss your options.
Our defense of court martial cases has been covered by major media outlets including:
Take a look at what you are up against & why you need a hard hitting, fearless civilian military lawyer fighting for you (these observations are based on Mr. Waddington’s personal experience in court martials worldwide):
- Government prosecution team members usually outnumber your assigned military defense team 5 to 1. They will often manipulate every aspect of the case and fight hard to deprive you of your ability to mount a legal defense. Some will use underhanded tactics to win. You must level the playing field with a battle tested civilian military lawyer.
- The accused is often denied requested delays and continuances so that they can prepare for courts martial, Article 32′s, and boards.
- Some prosecutors will acquire the testimony of witnesses by offering them immunity, plea deals, and favors, so long as the witnesses help the prosecution win their case & say what they want them to say. You need a lawyer that can destroy lying witnesses and uncover perjured testimony.
- Almost always, the accused is denied expert assistance, even when the prosecution has numerous expert witnesses in the same area. Commonly, the prosecutor and SJA play a key role in ensuring that the accused is denied expert assistance. The accused is usually forced to beg the judge for the same experts that the Government has and that is often denied as well. The accused must have a military lawyer with the experience and skill to win a case without defense experts, if necessary.
- Military prosecutors often use the “shotgun approach” to charging. Their strategy is simple, charge a military service member with as many charges as possible, and they will have no choice but to plead guilty. It is not uncommon for a court martial charge sheet to be 3 pages long, usually with the same conduct charged over and over again, in a variety of ways.
- The Government has virtually unlimited financial resources and some prosecutors will try to win at all costs. You need a civilian military lawyer to level the playing field.
- CID, OSI, NCIS, & other military investigators are trained to use lies, trickery, & deceit, & they are good at it. Their official training courses teach them to use “Liars, Trickery, & Deceit” to get the job done. They will get away with as much lying as the defense lawyer will allow. You need a lawyer that can expose their lying, deceptive ways, & turn it to your advantage at trial.
- The Government has its own staff of criminal investigators (CID, NCIS, OSI, MPI, etc.) trying to dig up dirt to use against you. They will almost always overlook, misplace, or hide evidence that helps your case. At trial, they will take innocent facts and twist them to make you look guilty.
- Rank often plays a role in the outcome of your case. Almost always, the Judge, the Chief of Military Justice, the Staff Judge Advocate (SJA), most of the jury, the Convening Authority (the person that picks the jury and decides whether or not you will be court martialed), the Article 32 officer, the chain of command, and virtually every person that makes a decision in your case will outrank you and your assigned Military Lawyer. An aggressive civilian defense lawyer is not subject to rank.
- The Staff Judge Advocate (SJA) is the convening authority’s (CA) legal advisor. The SJA has a duty to be fair, neutral, and impartial when giving advice. The SJA’s role is “justice.” The reality is, to many SJA’s, “justice” means a conviction, hard jail time, and a discharge. The SJA is the boss, senior supervisor, and rater of the prosecutor. They are not looking out for your freedom and your family’s welfare. They are not neutral. They want you in jail. Most SJA’s actively strategize with their prosecutors on how to convict the defendant and maximize his jail time. Many SJAs admonish their prosecutors when they lose a case. Some SJAs will put pressure on your military lawyer to get their way.
- Some SJA offices will proceed to trial on baseless charges even when the Article 32 investigating officer finds that the charges are not supported by the facts.
- In a court martial, the prosecution can call any witnesses they want. They don’t have to tell the accused what the witness will say. On the other hand, the defense, in order to have witnesses brought to court martial, must disclose to the prosecution exactly what the witnesses will say (in writing) and what role that testimony will have in the defense. Some judges require the defense to disclose even more details to the prosecution. This often reveals the entire defense strategy. In the end, after the prosecution learns the defense strategy, they can then pick and choose which defense witnesses will be brought to the court martial.
- In some cases (especially high profile court martial cases), extreme pressure will be put on the military defense lawyer to “not rock the boat” or “burn bridges.”
BOTTOM LINE: IF YOU WANT A FAIR SHAKE IN THE MILITARY JUSTICE SYSTEM, THEN YOU NEED A FEARLESS MILITARY LAWYER TO FIGHT FOR IT. AN EXPERIENCED CIVILIAN COURT MARTIAL LAWYER – MILITARY LAWYER CAN LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD!
Military Lawyer – Sexual Assault Trial Lawyer
Michael Waddington is a criminal defense lawyer defending service members worldwide at court martial and administrative separation boards. He has successfully defended military personnel in Europe, the Middle East (Iraq, Kuwait), Central Asia (Afghanistan), the Pacific (Yongsan Korea, Camp Casey Korea, Okinawa Japan, Yokota Japan), and throughout the United States. Mr. Waddington has a reputation for being a fearless and hard hitting military lawyer and trial attorney. He has successfully fought cases with overwhelming odds and drives a hard bargain when negotiating. Prosecutors don’t take a defense lawyer seriously unless they know that the military lawyer has a history of taking cases to trial and winning.
Mr. Waddington has been involved in some of the most high profile cases arising from the War on Terror. He has extensive experience fighting against Military Prosecution “Teams” and winning. Mr. Waddington will personally handle your case from start to finish. He keeps his case load small and generally only takes cases were the client wants to fight the allegations.
Choosing a military lawyer may be the most important decision that you will ever have to make. Do not go into a court martial or administrative separation board without carefully selecting the best military lawyer and best defense team possible.
