2020 (October Term)
United States v. Tyler, 81 M.J. 108 (in 2013, Congress revised presentencing procedures by enacting Article 6b(a)(4)(B), UCMJ, 10 USC § 806b(a)(4)(B), to give a victim the right to be reasonably heard at a sentencing hearing concerning the offense of which he or she is the victim; the President promulgated RCM 1001A to facilitate the statutory right to be reasonably heard (now found in RCM 1001(c)); a victim may make a sworn or unsworn statement during sentencing in a noncapital case).
(if unsworn victim statements are part of the evidence of record, they can be commented on by counsel in presentencing argument).
(an unsworn victim statement, although not evidence, can nevertheless be commented on by either party in presentencing argument; and counsel’s comments concerning a victim’s unsworn statement may include both references and arguments).
2017 (October Term)
United States v. Barker, 77 M.J. 377 (Article 6b, UCMJ, outlines the rights of a victim within the military justice system, including the right to reasonable, accurate, and timely notice of a range of proceedings related to an accused; these rights include the reasonable right to confer with the counsel representing the Government in any such proceeding, Article 6b(a)(5), UCMJ, and the right to be reasonably heard in public hearings related to pretrial confinement, a sentencing hearing, the public proceeding of the service clemency, and a parole relating to the offense; provision is also made for the appointment of an individual to assume the Article 6b, UCMJ, rights of a victim who is under the age of eighteen, or “incompetent, incapacitated, or deceased).