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United States Court of Appeals
for the Armed Forces
450 E Street, Northwest Washington D.C. 20442-0001

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Tuesday, April 8, 2025

9:30 a.m.:

United States v.	Joseph D. Suarez	No. 25-0004/MC
(Appellee)	(Appellant)	(audio -- mp3)

Counsel for Appellant: Lt Col Todd Eslinger, USMC (brief)
                                              ---------------------- (reply brief)
Counsel for Appellee:  Maj Candace G. White, USMC (brief)    

Case Summary: GCM conviction for use of cocaine, introducing cocaine onto an installation with intent to distribute, distribution of cocaine, distribution of controlled substances, and conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Granted issues are: (1) did unlawful command influence affect Appellant's court-martial?; (2) was trial defense counsel's deficient performance prejudicial?; and (3) did Appellant waive review of the question whether unlawful influence affected his court-martial?

NOTE: Counsel for each side will be allotted 20 minutes to present oral argument.

Followed by:

United States v.	Nathan G. Leese	No. 25-0024/AR
(Appellee)	(Appellant)	(audio -- mp3)

Counsel for Appellant: LTC Ryan Coward, JA USA (brief) (reply brief)
Counsel for Appellee:  CPT Nicholas A. Schaffer, JA USA (brief)

Case Summary: GCM conviction for willfully disobeying an officer, and assault consummated by a battery. Granted issue questions whether the military judge and the Army Court correctly applied United States v. Pierce, 27 M.J. 367 (C.M.A. 1989), in awarding credit for Appellant's two prior instances of nonjudicial punishment to a segmented sentence.

NOTE: Counsel for each side will be allotted 20 minutes to present oral argument.

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Wednesday, April 9, 2025

9:30 a.m.:

United States v.	Joshua A. Patterson	No. 25-0073/AF
(Appellant)	(Appellee)	(audio -- mp3)

Counsel for Appellant: Maj Kate E. Lee, USAF (brief) (reply brief)
Counsel for Appellee:  Maj Frederick J. Johnson, USAF (brief)

Case Summary: GCM conviction for rape, aggravated sexual contact, abusive sexual contact, and assault and battery. The certified issue questions where time was not an essential element of the offense, did the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals err by finding factual insufficiency based on a discrepancy between the dates pleaded and the dates proved, when it should have applied a variance analysis and found a non-fatal variance instead?

NOTE: Counsel for each side will be allotted 20 minutes to present oral argument.

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Tuesday, April 29, 2025

9:30 a.m.:

United States v.	Eliud I. Lopez	No. 24-0226/CG
(Appellee)	(Appellant)	(audio -- mp3)

Counsel for Appellant: LCDR Thadeus J. Pope, USCG (brief)
                                                   ----------------------- (reply brief)
Counsel for Appellee:  LT Christopher J. Hamersky, USCG (brief)

Case Summary: SPCM conviction for indecent visual recording. Granted issues are: (1) what is the standard of review when the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces evaluates a decision of a Court of Criminal Appeals on a request for appellate discovery?; (2) did the lower court err when it mostly denied Appellant's motions for appellate discovery regarding his illegal post-trial confinement, after which it found "simply no evidence of anything other than negligence regarding its cause?; and (3) whether the lower court erred in ordering backpay for Appellant's illegal post-trial confinement.

NOTE: Counsel for each side will be allotted 20 minutes to present oral argument.

Followed by:

United States v.	Oscar A. Batres	No. 25-0019/AR
(Appellee)	(Appellant)	(audio -- mp3)

Counsel for Appellant: CPT Patrick McHenry, JA, USA (brief)
                                                  ----------------------- (reply brief)
Counsel for Appellee:  CPT Stewart A. Miller, JA, USA (brief)

Case Summary: GCM conviction for sexual assault and assault consummated by a battery. Granted issue questions whether Appellant's offenses involved the same victim and the same transaction under Rule for Courts-Martial 1002(d)(2)(B)(i) such that the military judge erred in ordering Appellant's segmented sentences to run consecutively.

NOTE: Counsel for each side will be allotted 20 minutes to present oral argument.

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Wednesday, April 30, 2025

9:30 a.m.:

United States v.	Jonny Gonzalez	No. 25-0032/AR
(Appellee)	(Appellant)	(audio -- mp3)

Counsel for Appellant: Scott R. Hockenberry, Esq. (brief) (reply brief)
Counsel for Appellee:  CPT Vy T. Nguyen, JA, USA (brief)

Case Summary: GCM conviction for conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman. Granted issue questions whether Appellant had fair notice that the portions of Specification 2 of the charge alleging an Article 133 violation for an extramarital kiss constituted conduct that was forbidden and subject to criminal sanction.

NOTE: Counsel for each side will be allotted 20 minutes to present oral argument.