European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 16, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                July 2007 stars and stripes Page 3 court for the defense last criminal lawyer practising in Germany has represented thousands of service members by Nancy Montgomery stars and stripes Germany nether accused of drug smuggling or Deser rape or cutting off a mans head in front of a mess Hall full of troops in Germany have two local they can go with a Mili tary defense provided free of or they can hire David bearded and impeccably pin is the sole Amer ican civilian criminal lawyer who remains practising in All the others there were once a dozen or so have either gone quit or court married to a Ger Man Art historian and and enjoy ing the German lifestyle i like not having to look Over my shoulder at the he said court has maintained a Frank fur based practice for More than 30 years and now has a Niche All to even As the num Bers of troops i used to do 50 to 70 courts mar tial a he that dropped a but in still involved in 40 to 50 cases per do the court has represented several thousand servicemen Bers accused Michael Abrams tars and stripes of crimes under the uniformed code of military Justice far More than most judge advocates will Ever see and is indisputably an expert in its unlike Many defense lawyers who work at court martial in the he was never in the i never had the pleasure of he said in a recent interview at Camp Bell Barracks food if you want to comment that i said that with a straight that up to court has represented some of army Europe most notorious defend including army Steven who was convicted in 1994 of murdering his wife decapitating the Man in front of a mess Hall win Dow As scores looked then bringing the severed head to his wife Hospital he got 43 years in Mike who prosecuted the although sentencing guidelines called for a mandatory life but arguing that Schap had acted in the heat of passion after being betrayed by both his wife and her his former persuaded the commanding general to give for that was a said outgoing staff judge advocate for the 7th army joint multinational training Mulligan has known court for de Cades and said he considers him a Friend and a worthy when a sol Dier finds himself in there Are people Worth the Money and people who he court is Worth the Hes had great unfortunately for with negligent homicide Mulligan Mulligan said courts fluency in Ger Man helps in the courtroom when Ger Man investigators and experts not Only is he 90 seconds ahead he Doest need to wait for the translation he also knows most of the German expert witnesses after so Many he knows their Mulli Gan and is Able to exploit their Dis Comfort with the american adversarial trial so different from the Ger Man system there most familiar Agustin the former army medic who made International head lines last year when he was convicted of desertion and missing movement for fleeing his Schweinfurt unit before his second deployment to Iraq and after he was denied conscientious objector Sta Tus said he was Happy with courts Aguayo served More than six months but it might have been the very first time i spoke to i could Hes mastered the Art of per Aguayo most of courts cases never make the the Public was for in when air Force master Cliff Aimer was accused in 2001 of attempted rape by a 16yearold who he said had been one of his girlfriends and accused him after he spurned his military lawyer didst seem too interested in my he so he hired the six months he stood accused be fore charges were dropped after his Arti Cle 32 hearing would have been unbearable without courts said now retired and living in it was just i  i wanted to just people look at you to tally from the commander on he but court saw me through during the he shot Down and he was just courts decades of experience Are often in contrast to both the military prosecutors who sit across the aisle in the and the military defense who usually sits by courts helping with the military defense lawyers Are in a Sepa rate Chain of reporting to not local command there All competent and said Janine senior de sense counsel for the trial defense ser vice office in but some people Are made for the and some people trial litigation is part experience and knowhow and part and he has All she though uns Tuffy and is Well aware that his reputation pre cedes in told in a rite of passage for Young trial he email Nancy Montgomery at  court operates with 30 years experience before Bench David the Only american Crimi Nal defense lawyer living in Doest Ever work for but heres some free Legal advice from him confession is Good for the he but bad for the courts 30plus years of defending Crim Inal cases within army Europe have Given him a unique perspective on Mili tary Justice and changes in the kinds of cases he said he defends far fewer defendants accused of drug especially than he did years primarily because the military had gotten better at testing for illegal drugs along with the use of drug dogs and discouraged its the Downside they took a Mellow person and made them a raging court court said in his the Mili tary system punishes most harshly those offences that Are seen to disrupt Good order and discipline or the military you want to see someone punished try someone who assaults his court that not just an assault against a human its an assault against the an assault against an equal can bring less severe punishment than it would in civilian the military is a society of controlled court a person convicted of illegal violence is guilty of uncontrolled the military is Likely to Well rechannel the court said he Doest Deal in words like i do believe there Are cases where the government evidence was not he Ive had a lot of people who i dont think were As guilty As the panel said they court is critical of the Way the military uses its trial first making Crimi Nal Law a first or second assignment out of Law then reassigning them after one tour to something including those who Excel at it and would like to con they have a tour As a defense counsel where they did 12 cases in 18 then they go off for two then they come Back As a senior trial but Treyve Only had 18 months and Treyve been away from litigation for two they All have Law they All want but they All have to rein vent the i always ask a prospective client Why they want to hire he they my lawyer Doest seem to know what Hes i see that As a but there Are two areas in military Law that court says is Superior to the civilian criminal Justice the first is the process of accepting a guilty its Al most automatic in civilian but in military it can take hours for a judge to be satisfied that the Soldier pleading guilty really knows what he or she is the second is the military jury or not Only do All officers have a College Edu cation but Many enlisted people and most cos Are More highly he said than Many civilian jury members and it really is a jury of military panels can be As unpredictable As civilian court but one thing Only they Deal with whether to kick a convicted person out of the military May have a lessening effect on prison one judge said he looked at a punitive discharge As equal to two years confine court Nancy Montgomery